Vacation or a Curse?
by Kieno0324
Summary: Mai is invited to England by a friend. But her friend's aunt has a problem. Can Mai find out what's going on...especially when some surprise visitors show up to help? MaixNaru...slight MadokaxLin
1. Jolly Old England?

"_Italics like this_" Japanese speaking

"Words like this" English speaking

'Words like this' thinking

Remember, I don't own Ghost Hunt. And out to those Nancy Drew fans you may recognize the similarities between the story line of this story and 'Blackmoor Manor'! But please, don't think it's the same because it's not! Enjoy the fic!

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Chapter 1- Jolly Old England?

Mai watched the scenery fly past her as she sat in the rather comfortable seat of a Grey Hound like bus. She was on vacation and visiting a close friend of hers, Kim Lunar, who she had met when the girl had been in the exchange student program from England. When Kim had found out that Mai was on vacation from school she had all but demanded that Mai visit her at her family's old house in England.

It had taken massive begging on Mai's part to make Naru let her go. For some reason when he heard her destination was England he had become even harder to convince to let her go. When she threatened to quit and go anyway he had said she could go but she had a feeling it wasn't that she had threatened to quit. But rather that she had promised him a souvenir.

Mai gulped as lightening streaked across the sky. She felt her heart jumping into her throat as the bus stopped at her destination. She picked her duffle bag up and slowly got off the bus and listened as it drove away. The walk way up to the very large house made Mai want to run away but she took a deep breath and started to walk down the stone path wishing she hadn't agreed to come straight to the house.

'I thought England was supposed to be happy and peppy…this is downright gloomy. Perfect for Naru.' Mai couldn't help but think. She smiled as she began the ascent of the front steps before a growl caught her attention. She frowned and turned to look out at the large yard for the source of the growl. She shrugged before turning and knocking on the door.

Another, much louder, growl came from her right and she whirled around and went white with fear. Two red eyes were staring at her from the bushes. She screamed as the thing growled at her and she turned and began to pound on the door. She did _not_ want to be eaten before she even got inside.

"Mai?" the door opened up and Mai felt relief wash through her as her friend opened the door to see her scared Japanese friend standing there before the brown haired girl looked over her shoulder expectantly.

"There was something out there!" Mai cried as she turned to her friend expecting to see her laughing. But instead Kim sighed before letting Mai in. Mai noticed that Kim had let her reddish-blonde hair grow to her waist and her green eyes seemed to be very tired but Mai had a feeling it was because most of Kim's college classes were at night.

"I see you've met our Mansion Monster." Kim sighed and Mai felt a shiver go down her back. _That_ didn't sound good. "It's really odd, it started showing up right after my aunt got sick."

"Oh, maybe it's just a really mean stray dog, Kim." Mai reassured her friend and Kim laughed.

"I'm sorry, Mai. Here I am pouring my problems out to you. Come on, I'll show you to your room. Follow me." Kim said with a smile. Mai looked around the large entry room they were standing in. She saw several paintings on the walls. She saw on that on each side of the set of stairs Kim was leading her up were two doors. She wondered where they went before she and Kim reached the top of the steps.

There was a hallway that went left and right, Kim turned left and Mai followed her all the way to the end of the hall where a door with moons and suns were engraved on the door. Mai couldn't hide her delight at the etchings.

"This is your room, Mai. Mine's just down the hall, if you hear yelling from one of the rooms mine's to the left of it. Come and get me once you get settled and I'll order us something to eat. My great-aunt had the wild idea to remodel the kitchen and it's taking forever!" Kim said with a smile and Mai giggled as her friend was still as talkative as she had been in Japan.

"Okay!" Mai entered her room, glad that she had taken an extra class in English in preparation for her trip. Naru had laughed at her every time she tried to talk to him in English until she finally gave up and went to Lin for help. He had helped her a great deal and when she told Naru good-bye, in English mind you, she resisted the urge to flip him off.

Lin had told her during their tutor sessions that the reason Naru had refused to help was because he didn't want her going to England because he was worried. Mai didn't know whether to feel happy over the fact that Naru didn't want her to go because he thought she would get hurt or to be angry over the fact. Mai had decided to feel anger it was a much easier emotion for her to handle around Naru.

'Jerk!!' she thought as she put her bag down on the bed. She realized suddenly that her room was Asian in decorations and she couldn't help but smile. The walls were red and had several Japanese wall hangings. Her bed had a canopy that was a deep gold color that matched the bed spread. Mai smiled before quickly unpacking her things and lying down on the bed.

'Maybe this vacation won't be so bad. Maybe I should call Ayako…she told me to call her once I got here.' Mai sat up and rummaged through her purse and finally found her cell phone. She sighed when she saw it was almost dead. She turned the device off and saw there was a phone by her bed. She picked the receiver up and dialed Ayako's number.

"_Hello?_" Ayako finally answered and Mai could imagine her confusion when she saw the caller ID that would undoubtedly say 'England' and whatever Kim's number was.

"_Hi, Ayako. You told me to call when I made it. Well, I'm here._" Mai said and she heard Ayako breathe out at Mai's voice.

"_Great! Takigawa has been driving me crazy! He came over to my house to wait for your call! Would you quit?! Ouch, hey I should get to talk to her! I'll let you talk to her in a minute!_" Mai giggled as she could imagine as Ayako tried to keep the phone out of Takigawa's grip. "_How's your friend, Kim? And the house?_"

"_To be honest, it's kind of creepy. There's this…thing outside and it started showing up when Kim's aunt got sick. I might just be imagining things but that seems extremely weird._" Mai stated and she heard Ayako laugh and she felt her anger rise up ready to strike.

"_You've spent too much time at SPR, Mai-chan. Don't worry about it. And if something is really odd, call Naru! Or me…or Takigawa. You're probably just tired…don't talk to Takigawa to long._" Ayako finally handed the phone over to the monk and Mai talked to him for a few minutes before hanging up and she decided that she would find Kim.

She exited her room and frowned as she heard yelling. She followed the sound and found a closed door, closest to the stairs. She couldn't understand what was being said as they were talking extremely fast but what caught her attention was on the floor in front of the door. Muddy footprints from a person that Mai decided had been outside. She heard something slam down and she realized this was the room Kim had told her about. She looked to the left of the door and saw the stairs but on the other side of the stairs she saw another door.

She knocked and was relieved when Kim's voice called for her to come in. She opened the door and saw that Kim's room consisted of a double bed and a desk and chair. There were no decorations and clothes were scattered everywhere. A college student's room to be sure. Kim turned around in her seat where she was at her desk and smile at Mai's look.

"Yeah, I know my room's a mess. But finals are coming up and I need to study. But don't worry, they'll be over by tomorrow and then I'll be able to show you around, okay?" Mai nodded with a smile. "Come on, let's go see if my great-aunt is ready to call for dinner. I'm starved."

"Hey, Kim, why was your aunt yelling? I thought she was sick." Mai said as she followed her friend down the stairs and through a doorway that was between two of the paintings in the main hallway.

"Well…she's not the conventional sick. See it's a bit of a mystery. I heard you were a Ghost Hunter now and I thought you might be a little bit of help. A couple of weeks ago my aunt started hiding in her room and in her bed. At first we thought she just had the flu or something but then she started hiding behind this curtain and she's so grouchy!

"If you knew my aunt you would know that isn't like her. She's the friendliest person I know. I mean she never argued with anyone in her entire life until she started acting so odd. Not even my Uncle, who's on business, was ever in a fight with her. But now whenever he calls that seems to be the only thing they do. I have to put ear muffs on just so that I can sleep." Kim said with a sigh.

"That's terrible, Kim." Mai said. "It's odd…I've only heard of…do you have any reason to believe that she may just be sick?" Mai asked and Kim shook her head and the brown headed girl frowned. This did not sound good.

* * *

Mai flipped through the library book she had on her lap. She was sitting in the library of the large house looking at, of all things, a book on lycanthropes. She squeaked as her phone suddenly went off in the silence of the library. She checked the number and she saw it was an England number. She answered it interestedly.

"Hello?" Mai answered curiously.

"Mai! It's Madoka! I heard you were in England! I just wanted to know if you made it in already!" Mai recognized the voice of Madoka Mori, Naru's mentor. Mai didn't know that Madoka was back in England.

"Madoka! I made it in fine…but my friend's house is sort of creepy. I'm staying with Kim Lunar, in one of the large mansions. And something is awfully odd." Mai said and she heard Madoka's breath hitch.

"What do you mean, odd?" Madoka asked and Mai frowned as she tried to think of a way to explain.

"I mean…Kim said her aunt started acting odd not to long ago and when I got here…there was a monster that growled at me." Mai said as she kept reading through the book as she balanced her phone on her shoulder.

"Mai, don't tell me what I think your thinking. There hasn't been a documentation of a werewolf in a hundred years." Madoka said and Mai groaned before she closed the book and stood up stretching her back until it popped.

"Maybe it's just my imagination…her aunt could just be sick and grouchy because of it. That's probably it. Maybe I really do need this vacation." Mai joked and she heard Madoka laugh.

"I should call Naru and rip into him for making you work so hard that you imagine that you are on a case while actually on vacation! What's the address, I'll come and visit you in a couple of days!" Madoka offered and Mai gave her the address before saying good-bye and putting her phone into her pocket.

She quickly replaced the books on the bookshelves and looked at the clock that hung on the wall beside the window. She saw it was nearly midnight and she realized how tired she really felt. She started towards the door before stopping as the door buckled slightly and there was a scratching sound on the door. She stayed still and heard the same growling from before.

'What's going on?' she thought before the lights flickered and she pressed herself against the wall as all the shelves began to shake angrily. She clutched at the wall she was pressed against as even the ground began to shake.

"_AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!_" a ghostly wail caused shivers to go down Mai's spine before suddenly it all stopped. Mai slid to the floor with her heart pounding before pushing her bangs out of her face and standing back up and heading for the door. She opened the door and looked out into the main hallway that the library connected to.

She looked down at the door and felt her eyes widen in surprise. On the door was several deep gash marks. She was surprised that the door had withstood whatever had attacked it. She looked back out into the hall and was glad that it was still lit. She quickly left the library and dashed up to her room and locking her door tightly.

'This is not good.' Mai thought as she leaned against her door. 'I need to call Madoka back!' she pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit the redial button and waited anxiously as the phone rang before Madoka finally answered.

"Um, Mai can I call you back?" Madoka sounded ruffled and Mai wondered briefly was wrong before she pushed her curiosity back and told Madoka what had happened.

"Alright, look we can talk about this when I get out there…and I may have…some assistants. Speaking of which, I have to go. Stay in your room until morning. Bye!" Madoka hung up and Mai looked at the phone as it played the dial tone at her and Mai sighed before she went over to her bed and curled up and went to sleep quickly.

Mai woke up and yawned widely. She sat up in the bed and climbed out before she got her clothes and somehow found out where the bathroom without getting lost and when she exited the room she found Kim waiting on her with a smile on her face.

"Hey, you have a couple of visitors." Kim said and Mai smiled before she followed her friend down the steps and saw Madoka standing in the hallway and Kim turned to Mai.

"I have class, I'll be back in about three hours. And if my aunt starts screeching, hide in the library, not even guests are safe from her rages." Kim said before she exited and Madoka nodded before smiling at Mai.

"I did some research on this house. It has quiet a history to speak of." Madoka said and Mai could feel her interest peek at the glint she saw in Madoka's eyes, the woman had obviously found something of interest about the house.

"Wait a minute. Kim said I had more than one visitor." Mai said and Madoka smiled and nodded before the main doors opened and she turned to look at her assistants and Mai felt her eyes widen in utter surprise and dismay.

"Lin-san?! Naru?!" she cried as the two men walked inside and she felt like she was going to faint.

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Review for the Author! Bye!


	2. A witch?

I'm sorry! I know it's been a while, at least at the pace I normally update. But I've been testing and teachers are giving final. Blech! By the summer I should be back up to speed. Please review!

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Chapter 2- A witch? 

"Surprise!" Madoka seemed pleased with herself as Mai stared at Naru and Lin as they examined the paintings. Mai turned to look at Madoka with a white face as the woman continued to smile.

"H-how…did they….get here?!" Mai finally managed not noticing how Naru turned to lookat her.

"And your pronunciation still reeks, Mai." Mai turned to glare at the man before turning back to Madoka, still waiting of an explanation of how her boss, her handsome boss mind you, and his assistant got to England and to the house she was staying in. Madoka seemed to realize the girl was very serious.

"Alright, alright, I'm guilty! When I called the first time and you told me about the strange circumstances I called Naru. I would rather not tell you the names he called me for not coming over here and dragging you out the minute I hung up after calling you to see how you were." Mai shot a look at Naru who had his back turned on her. If she hadn't known better she would have sworn that he had been worried about her.

"Anyway, I go to my office this morning and who do I find there waiting for me? These two. No forewarning, no nothing. Now, Kim said we could stay here with you and she told me where our rooms are, so Lin and I will take the bags upstairs!" before Mai could get a word in edgewise Lin and Madoka were gone leaving Mai alone with Naru in the main hallway.

"It seems I can't trust you to not get in trouble. Even half way across the world you seem to have a thing for trouble." Naru said and Mai could feel her anger rising and targeting the young man.

"What right do you have to follow me? You gave me a vacation so I took it, it did not include you following me to my choice of destination!" Mai said as quietly as she could, which wasn't very quiet as her anger was beginning to boil over.

"And you would rather be eaten?" he said calmly and Mai snapped. Before she knew what she had done, one of her shoes was missing from her foot and had hit Naru on the head and was currently lying beside his own feet. He looked rather startled that he had been attacked by a flying shoe.

"I would rather be eaten than have you watching over my shoulder the whole stinking time!" she snapped at him and they stood there glaring at each other until Madoka and Lin reentered the room and the adults glanced at the angry teens before at each other.

"I told you it was a bad idea." Lin said and Madoka rolled her eyes before smiling at the man.

"You say that every time!" she said brightly and Lin raised an eyebrow.

"The last time you had an idea we were all almost killed by a demon that was obsessed with blood." he pointed out and Madoka laughed nervously.

"Okay, one time. But from what Mai told me she needed serious help and you and Naru were the only people she knew in Japan that could drop everything and come here. Just don't tell her it was my idea to bring you out here. And it probably would not be a good idea to tell her you were involved." Madoka said and Lin gave her a look that clearly said he had no intentions of telling Mai.

* * *

"You jerk!!" Madoka and Kim looked over at where Mai and Naru were arguing in a corner of the library. Naru seemed to be set on doing something else and Mai was giving up a good fight to make sure he didn't do whatever he wanted to do. 

"Do they always do this?" Kim asked Madoka as the older woman flipped through the book Mai had been looking at the night before. She glanced over at the couple and sighed before nodding.

"When I first went to check on Naru…he and Mai argued. The only time they don't argue is when Naru does something stupid." Madoka said and Kim hid her mouth behind her hand. She couldn't imagine Naru would do something stupid but she could imagine that if Naru got hurt Mai would be upset.

"Argh!!" Mai stomped over to where Madoka and Kim were sitting. They could both see the flush on her cheeks but most prominently they could see the tears Mai was rubbing at desperately. Madoka sighed before pulling out the case file she had placed in her purse.

"Alright, let's go over the information I was able to get." Madoka said with a smile and Mai managed to smile back in response before looking away as Naru and Lin came over and stood next to Madoka's chair.

Mai wasn't really sure why she was upset. She and Naru had been arguing over him staying. She had told him that she didn't want him there. He had come back with she really had no choice. She had told him he was insensitive. He had informed her he already knew that and that she needed to grow up.

"Let's see, about two hundred years ago, the Lunar family made this an orphanage for children orphaned due to the plague. Many people thought the master, or mistress in this case, was 'magical'…a witch." Madoka read and Mai forgot why she was angry at Naru, at least for the time being.

"People accused her of turning her younger brother into a monster because he upset her by marrying someone of lower class. That was when the first reporting of a werewolf happened at this house. But this is where things get really weird." Madoka looked at Kim and Kim nodded obviously knowing what the other woman was going to say.

"Everyone except Madeline's, who was the 'witch', oldest son disappeared. He flew the country because everyone was accusing him of killing his family and the orphans, especially the orphans. Amazing how when someone dies or disappears they were the greatest thing in the world and I'm sure the children were great. But these people that were acting so upset about their disappearance were the same ones that had been calling their caregiver a witch.

"But anyway, after the second World War our family returned from Spain, where they had been hiding." Kim said and Mai thought back to the attack last night. She realized that ghostly wail could have belonged to Madeline.

"That's all good but what does it have to do with Kim's aunt?" Mai asked and Madoka sighed.

"I don't know but I think it's time you talked to her about it, Mai. After all you are Kim's friend and it might be easier for you to get answers out of her than me or Naru." Madoka said and Mai sent a look at Naru, deciding to give one last jab. She wasn't in a forgiving mood.

"Yeah at least I treat people with some sort of respect!" she made sure she was looking at Naru before turning and leaving the library. Madoka shrugged at Kim and the college student hurried after her friend.

"Mai, wait up! Hang on!" Kim caught up to her friend as Mai started up the steps. The younger girl finally stopped and Kim saw that Mai was trying not to cry again. Kim hugged Mai and waited until her friend calmed down.

"Come on, I think my aunt is in a pleasant mood today. She's wanted to meet you ever since I got back from Japan last year." Kim said and Mai smiled. She followed Kim to her aunt's room and they entered after knocking.

The whole room was dark and the curtains were drawn. The only light in the room was filtering in from the window from the now setting sun. Mai could see a silhouette through the curtains on the bed and she wondered how the woman could see them through the curtain and the dark.

"Aunt Rena, how are you feeling?" Kim asked as they stopped beside the bed and stood there. Mai could see the woman shift as though she were surprised that they had actually entered her room.

"Kim, dear…I'm feeling better. I don't feel hungry today." her aunt's voice sounded hoarse from all the screaming that Kim had told Mai that the woman did. Mai wanted to help her badly. She just didn't know how to help the woman.

"Well, I told you my friend Mai was visiting. She came here as my cheering section so I won't flunk my finals and she wanted to meet you." Kim explained and the woman behind the curtain chuckled and Mai looked at Kim who shrugged and mouthed 'Her moods change a lot.'

"Very well." the woman said and Mai felt some of the tension leave her body as Kim urged her to introduce herself.

"Hello, Mrs. Lunar. I'm Mai Taniyama; it's nice to meet you. Kim has told me all sorts of things about you." Mai said and she heard the woman chuckle again.

"I'm sure. Well, welcome to our home, Mai. I hope you enjoy your stay but stay away from any passages you may find." Rena paused for a moment and Mai wondered if the woman was going to just stop talking to them. "Things are not what they seem."

"Aunt Rena, are you alright?" Kim asked and the woman stayed quiet before a low growl came from the bed and Mai recognized as it was the same growl she had heard both times before.

"Out. NOW!" Kim looked at Mai and they quickly left as they had no desire to be eaten by an angry werewolf. The closed the door and leaned against it as they tried to calm their pounding hearts.

"She's worse than teenage girls when it comes to mood swings!" Mai cried and Kim nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish I knew what was wrong!" Kim was upset and Mai could tell that the girl was very worried about her aunt. Mai sighed before she noticed a statue of a gargoyle that looked as though it were staring at her.

"Kim, why is there a gargoyle statue on that wall?" Mai asked and Kim looked at the statue before frowning and looking at Mai.

"Well, when our family returned I guess the main guy like gargoyles, a lot. He's the guy that in the painting has a gargoyle behind him. He's also the only one that doesn't have a family crest and he never officially declared himself a Lunar. He didn't live very long after moving back." Kim said and Mai couldn't shake off the feeling that the gargoyle was staring at her. She was actually happy to see Naru sitting at the desk in the library with his laptop.

"There you are Mai! Hey, where's Kim?" Madoka asked when she realized that Mai's friend wasn't with her.

"She said her great-aunt wanted to talk to her. So I came on back, why? Did you find something else?" Mai asked curiously and Madoka frowned before nodding and handing the paper in her hand to Mai.

"Yeah. I did research with Naru on all the Lunars until about 1500 and this family had some serious problems. Each member died before they reached thirty except for Madeline, she turned thirty and about six days later she and all the orphans disappeared for no reason." Madoka said and Mai frowned.

"Well, I think Kim's aunt is turning into the werewolf. She got mad when we were up there for some reason or the other and she started growling. I recognized it as the growl I heard when I first got here and when it attacked the door...but…how do we find out what's wrong?" Mai asked and Madoka smiled.

"You could always act like dog food." she suggested and the three other people in the room looked at her like she was crazy and she shrugged.

* * *

Mai looked around and realized she was in the main hall, only it looked different and she realized why. Most of the paintings were gone and she had a sudden feeling that she was dreaming. Suddenly a lot of children figures and a female adult figure appeared and Mai took a step back before she realized that she was standing on the stairs. She watched as the woman and children danced around. 

"That's right, Josh, just hop as you step." the woman, who Mai realized had to be Madeline, took a boy's hand and they hopped back and forth, everyone was laughing. Mai felt tears in her eyes as she realized that these people were just ghosts and weren't alive even though it seemed as though they were and very happy.

"No one just disappears." Mai jumped at the sound of Naru's voice behind her and she turned to look at the man standing on the steps behind her. She nodded before turning back around and suddenly the ghosts disappeared and replaced by someone in a black cloak.

"To close." they said, Mai couldn't tell if it was male or female before suddenly the same dog appeared before the figure and growled before it disappeared and the female disappeared as well.

"What did she mean…'to close'?" Mai turned as Naru suddenly appeared at her side. He frowned for a moment before turning to look at her and smiling gently at her and reaching out to stroke her face.

"This is your case, Mai. I don't know the answer anyway. But I do know this is very dangerous and I would rather you return to Japan." he said and Mai smiled before shaking her head.

"I can't. Kim's aunt needs our help and I can't abandon her!" Mai said and she could see Naru sigh before a growl caught their attention and they turned to look and Mai could feel her heart pounding as the werewolf was looking straight at them. She fell back as Naru pushed her behind him.

"Wake up, Mai!" he cried and gave her another shove and she screamed as she fell through the steps before everything went black.

* * *

Mai sat up in her bed startled. She felt her heart beating at a thousand miles per hour. She had almost been killed by a werewolf in her dreams. She prayed that the dream Naru would be alright. She sat there with a pounding heart before a cackle caught her attention and she jumped slightly before jumping out of her bed and bolting out her door. 

She felt fear grip her as the same cloaked figure from her dream disappeared into Rena's room. Mai tiptoed to Rena's room and listened with bated breath. She heard a low growl and she jumped back and felt something pressing against her back and she whirled around to see that she had backed into the gargoyle.

'That creepy statue!' she thought. She didn't know why but she had a feeling that the statue had something to do with whatever was going on. She reached out and gasped as the statue turned with the pressure of her hand. She looked over her shoulder and saw that no one was behind her. She frowned before turning the gargoyle every which way and she gasped as she heard something scraping.

She whirled around and between her and Rena's bedroom doors a secret door had opened. She looked around before entering the passageway. She squeaked as the door began to close. She put her hands against the door and held it open. She saw with the light of the hallway that there was a handle on the other side. She slipped out and watched as the door close and the gargoyle returned to it's original position.

'I guess that's what Rena meant when she said to stay away from the passageways but what's going on? Why is Rena afraid of them?' Mai asked herself before she went back into her room.

* * *

Mai walked down the steps and was surprised when she saw Madoka open the front door of the house and standing there was a slightly elderly couple. Mai saw Kim at the bottom of the stairs and the woman smiled at her. 

"Madoka…what's going on?" Mai asked as she joined the woman at the front door. Madoka smiled at Mai before chuckling.

"These are Naru's parents. They found out he was here so they came to visit. I would do a normal introduction but they are in a hurry, so excuse us!" Madoka and the couple quickly disappeared into the library and Mai frowned before looking at Kim who shrugged without a word.

Mai told Kim about what she had discovered last night. Kim looked interested before they went up to her room and grabbed a couple of flashlights before they went to the gargoyle. It took nearly thirty minutes before they got the combination right and the door finally opened.

"Whoa…when you said secret passageway this was not what I was expecting." Kim said as she shone her light into the hallway. Mai shrugged as she tried not to shiver at the creepy aura the hallway was giving off.

"You found it so you go first." Kim said and Mai rolled her eyes before slowly descending the steps using her flashlight to see the path she was walking on. She finally reached the bottom and waited for Kim to join her in the passageway.

"Kim, have you ever seen something like this before?" Mai asked as they walked down the passageway before reaching the end. Mai frowned as there was a door and etched into it was a half a gargoyle with one eye.

"No…and trust me I would have remembered if I stumbled into a secret passageway when I was little." Kim replied as she also studied the door before directing her beam to the words underneath the half a gargoyle.

"'For the one wrongfully accused…any whose this and do not let others now…may you be cursed for the rest of your life.' I wonder if this is what your aunt when she said to stay away from passages. No wonder your aunt was freaked out but…" Mai trailed off and looked at Kim who nodded.

"That doesn't explain why she is acting so weird. Maybe we should go tell to Madoka about this." Kim suggested and Mai nodded before following Kim up the stairs. They both froze as they heard a low growling. They looked behind them but nothing was there and then Mai realized the growling was coming from the other side of one of the walls and Mai put her ear against the wall and motioned for Kim to join her.

"No! I don't want you to come home! JUST STAY THERE!" both girls jumped as they heard Rena's voice and something slamming down. They hurried out of the passageway and watched as it closed.

Mai followed Kim to the library, frowning as everything began to grow dizzy. They entered the library and Kim quickly told the three people there what they had found and Mai noticed drowsily that Naru's parents left. Mai put a hand to her head as everything started to spin before she fell.

"And we heard my aunt arguing-" Kim was cut off by a loud thump and everyone turned around and their eyes widened as they saw Mai lying on the ground.

"Mai!" Naru was the first one to her and he reached out to touch her before Lin's voice stopped him.

"Naru, the thermal camera we set up is showing Mai as blue." Lin said and Naru touched Mai and his eyes went wide at the coolness of Mai's skin.

"MAI!!"

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Remember...reviews are friends!


	3. Madeline

Okay people, here's a SPOILER warning, it only hints at it currently but trust me this will go into full blown spoilers. But if you want you can still read, actually I recommend it! And review!

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Chapter 3- Madeline

"Mai, wake up! Mai!" Madoka tried to shake the girl awake. They had moved her to the couch in the library and Naru had covered her with a blanket. But no matter how hard they tried to revive the girl they elicited no response.

"Lin, how's her temperature?" Naru said in a cold voice as he turned to look at the older man. Lin shook his head and Naru went over and looked at the screen that Lin had set up and saw that Mai was turning blue quickly and the red that indicated the warmth of her body was quickly disappearing. Naru growled underneath his breath before turning back to look at Mai as Madoka and Kim kept attempting to revive her.

'How is this happening? She gave no symptoms of being hurt or sick and she collapsed with no warning.' Naru thought as he studied Mai trying to figure out what was going on. For the first time he was coming up with a blank before he decided that he needed to see the passageway.

"Kim, can you show Lin and myself where the secret passageway you found was?" Naru asked and Kim nodded before leading them to the door and opening it before handing her flashlight to Naru who took it and she watched as the men disappeared.

Naru kept walking until they reached the door. He looked at Lin and the man traced his fingers over the words graved into the door before tracing the gargoyle and frowning before shaking his head.

"There's nothing malicious about this door, Naru. Even the most sensitive of people could see there's nothing on this door and I have feeling there was nothing ever on this door, rather than a threat warning strangers so that they'll stay away." Lin wiped his hands on his pants as he straightened up to his full height.

Naru reached out to pull on the handle of the door and found that it wouldn't budge from the door frame. Naru closed his eyes before opening them and frowning before turning to Lin.

"I need to see what happened to Mai." even in the dark he could see Lin's eyes widen before Naru headed out of the passageway and into the library where Madoka was the only one sitting with Mai. Naru stood by Mai before he reached out to touch her forehead stopping when Madoka grabbed his wrist.

"Don't do it, Naru. You don't know if she's alive or not and if she's possessed you will see the death of the ghost." Madoka said and Naru frowned before freeing his wrist from her grip.

"What else would you suggest we do? Mai's losing time, quickly and this is the only thing I can think of to do that may produce some results." Naru snapped at the woman and Madoka sighed before she brushed Mai's bangs back.

"Naru, you've already seen someone you care about die through your eyes…can you stand to do that a second time?" Madoka asked and Naru growled as he glared down at her.

"That's different." he snapped and Madoka bent her head before straightening up and standing and meeting his cold blue eyes.

"Is it really, Naru? Are you trying to make it up to Gene by saving her?" Madoka asked and Naru felt as though he were slapped in the face. "Are you trying to save her because you couldn't save him? Naru, don't do this because you're trying to prove a point."

"I'm not doing this for him, Madoka. I am not going to stand here and watch as Mai slips away." Naru reached out and pressed his hand against Mai's forehead and felt something pass through him.

Madoka sighed before she left the room and bumped into Lin who she saw had a worried look on his face. She closed the library door and shook her head. They both knew what was going on.

"He's trying to prove himself." she whispered and Lin sighed before looking over his shoulder at the closed door.

"The question is…is he trying to prove himself to Gene, us, Mai, or himself?" Lin asked and Madoka frowned before shaking her head.

"I wish I knew." she answered.

* * *

Naru found himself in the hallway but he realized that he was himself and not someone else. He heard footsteps and watched as the woman he recognized as Madeline entered the room from the conservatory that was located opposite of the library. She looked upset and frazzled and Naru realized that a man was standing at the front door.

"Jonathon, you are not wanted here!" Madeline snapped angrily and Naru watched as the man stepped out into the light but his face was still in darkness and Naru frowned, wondering who's eyes he was seeing this through.

"Get off it Madeline, I am just as much of a Lunar as you are, more so than those brats you're taking care off." Jonathon snarled and Madeline shook her head.

"You lost that honor the moment you put that poison in father's drink." she replied before crying out as Jonathon pulled a gun on her and shot. Naru was quiet suddenly moving and he realized whoever he was had run from Jonathon.

"Chris!" Naru heard Jonathon call after him before he was in a large room with several children. Naru grabbed the oldest looking girl and she looked at him startled.

"Get everyone together, go through the secrets passageway and get away from this house. And change your names, go to one of the better orphanages and _hide!_ My brother and I'll be going to go to Spain and if you need me I'll be there, just do as I say." Naru said and the girl nodded before taking all the orphans and slipping through a secret passageway and Naru watched them go.

Naru left the room and found himself face to face with Jonathon and the gun and Naru realized that Chris was not the oldest son. He felt a burning in his chest and he dropped to the ground as the pain spread through his body and Naru closed his eyes and seconds later he was ripping his hand away from Mai's forehead and looking back down at her.

"Alright, Chris, I know what happened. Get out of Mai." he told the unconscious girl before stepping back as her body arched up and Naru watched as Mai's eyes opened and she sat up and Naru knew from the way she sat that she wasn't Mai.

"I'm not my son, Mr. Shibuya. I am Madeline. I thought it would be easier to let you see what happened through my son's eyes." Mai said and Naru sighed before he sat down in a chair beside the couch where 'Madeline' was sitting cross legged.

"What is going on?" Naru asked and the woman sighed before she stood up and went over to the book shelves. She ran her fingers over the spines before turning to look at Naru with an almost pained look on her face.

"I am not a witch…I was never a witch. I just used medicines to help the children with illnesses and because of that I was accused and everyone thought my brother should replace me as the leader.

"But they did not know his secret. And telling you I could put you into serious danger but I know you saw. So many things have happened in this wretched house that I would much rather not know. So many terrible things that I can't begin to describe that I saw when I was a little girl.

"I suppose that because of my childhood that I started up my orphanage to try and help the children. And yet I was cursed for being different, for being something a woman of my day and age was not supposed to be." Mai turned away and studied the books again. Naru stood up and placed himself behind her and studied the books over her shoulder.

"Humans are naturally afraid of that which they can not understand." Naru said and Mai turned around with a smile on her face before she began to walk around with her hand trailing on the bookshelves before she stopped on the opposite side of the room and turned to look at him.

"And what's different about you, Mr. Shibuya? You speak as though from experience." Mai said and Naru looked at her before a smirk formed on his face and shook his head.

"And how am I supposed to know that Mai can't hear me? I would rather her not know the secrets I have as they could put her in danger." he replied and 'Madeline' smiled before starting towards him and stopping in front of him.

"So we both try to protect those that we care for." she said and Naru frowned at her before he stepped around Madeline and picked his case file up from the desk where they had set up the computer and the few thermal screens they had managed to smuggle from Japan.

"And why would you say that?" he asked as he turned back to look at her and she laughed before looking up at the ceiling as though she were the most amused person in the world. She looked back down at Naru and shook her head.

"Mr. Shibuya, it's not hard to see that you have a strong desire to protect this girl. If you didn't then why did you touch her to find out what had happened? What would have you done if you realized it wasn't a ghost turning her blue but her own death that sent her temperature spiraling downwards?" Madeline asked and Naru felt something give a twinge in his chest. He realized belatedly that it was his heart that had jumped at the implication of Mai's death.

"As she isn't dead I don't see how this has anything to do with the Lunar family's problem." Naru said and his breath caught as Mai was suddenly _very_ close to him. Madeline looked very interested.

"Then you really shouldn't mind when I do this." Naru's eyes widened when he felt _Mai's_ lips pressed against his for no longer than five seconds. Naru counted instead of focusing on the feel of her lips. He knew if he focused on the kiss that he would end up doing something that he should not do. Especially with Mai being his assistant.

"Stop it." Naru pushed Mai away and the girl blinked up at him before her eyes slowly slipped closed and she began to fall. Naru caught her and held her and felt his breathing slow to a normal pace when he realized that Mai's body heat was returning to her.

He picked her up before placing her on the couch where she curled up into a ball. He left the room and went to his bedroom. He leaned against his door and pressed his fingers against his lips. Had Mai had anything to do with the kiss? Why had Madeline made her kiss him? What did the ghost know that he hadn't told her?

* * *

"Have you seen Naru?" Madoka asked Lin as he sat at the computer typing. Madoka had covered the still resting Mai with a cover. She and Lin had been surprised when they returned to find Mai's body temperature was returning to normal and that she was sleeping soundly. But Lin and Madoka hadn't seen Naru since they had reentered the library.

"No, it's possible he found out something and is investigating. And he wouldn't tell us if he did." Lin said and Madoka shook her head before standing up and beginning to pace behind Lin until the man turned around in his chair to look at her and she stopped.

"That boy is seventeen years old; soon to be eighteen and an adult, and still acts like a child! Going off and doing things by himself! I should really go find him and drag him back to this library and tie him to one of these chairs! He's a child, Lin!" Madoka cried and Lin looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Madoka, you just said he was about to become an adult. You watched him grow up just like I did. But you can't keep him as a child." Lin told her and Madoka shook her head.

"Maybe I just agree with his parents. He's been in Japan for nearly a year and hasn't found what he's been looking for. I think he should stay here in England and not return to Japan." Madoka stated and Lin shook his head.

"You can't force Naru to do anything, much less stay in a country against his will." Lin said and Madoka looked him square in the eye.

"Then tell me, why does he want to stay in Japan other than the reason he told his parents?" Madoka asked and Lin didn't answer but Madoka realized that his eyes weren't on hers and usually when Lin talked to someone he usually look them in the eyes. She turned around and saw that Lin's eyes were on the sleeping Mai.

"Oh, no…Lin…tell me that what I'm thinking is wrong." Madoka said softly and Lin turned away without answering and Madoka let out a sigh.

"Lin, the deal was a year. His parents have given him more. What made him change his mind so suddenly?" she demanded and Lin looked over his shoulder at the curly haired woman.

"To protect someone. Madoka, you are the only one that understands who Naru is and the desires that he has to protect those he cares about. He may be cold but we both know that he would do anything to protect the lives of those that he cares about." Lin said and Madoka sighed before looking over at Mai.

"And yet he lies to her everyday." she replied.

* * *

Mai stood in the hallway of the house. She looked around confused. The last thing she could remember was falling the library and hitting something very warm and yielding and something that would protect her. She shook her head and looked around as she tried to figure out what was going on and having very little success.

She watched as a figure slowly began to appear in front of her. She felt her eyes widen as it took on the form of Madeline. She stared at the dark haired woman in wonder before gulping as the woman smiled at her in a friendly sense.

"You must be Mai. I heard that you're trying to help Kim. She's a kind girl…so kind that she almost doesn't belong to the Lunar family." the woman said and Mai blinked, since when had being kind been grounds to not belong to a family?

"What do you mean?" Mai asked and Madeline shook her head.

"All the Lunars have secrets, Mai. And most of them are not good. We are very dangerous and are not to be messed with, you are in serious dangerous. And the bad thing is…I don't know what is hunting you or who is controlling the hunter." Madeline told the girl and Mai felt her heart thumping against her chest at the look in Madeline's eyes, she had never seen a ghost look so serious in her time of having worked for Naru.

"You mean you didn't start this?" Mai asked and Madeline shook her head and Mai felt her eyes widen. "But then who? Who started cursing people into that…_thing_?" Mai cried.

"I don't know but I would not put it past my brother to delve into the dark arts to get what he wanted. But our family protects our secret even from traitors of the family even if they are part of the family." Madeline said and Mai shook her head before she started to walk around with Madeline watching her.

"But there's no clues or anything. The door in the passageway is locked and there is no way in." Mai told Madeline and the woman chuckled.

"Of course not, you have to find the other passageway and figure out the puzzle." Madeline told Mai before disappearing and in her place appeared a man with black hair, blue eyes, and a gentle smile on his face.

"Naru! You're alright!" Mai cried and the man nodded before looking towards the stairs and she followed his case and gulped as she saw that the whole hallway was black.

"Whatever is in this house wants everyone out. Kim's aunt is only the start and she certainly isn't the last. Be careful, Mai." he told her before everything went black.

* * *

Mai's eyes snapped open and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of the library. She sat up, rubbing her head before she looked out the window and saw that it was dark outside. She also saw that Naru, of all people, was sound asleep in front of the laptop. She almost laughed before covering her mouth. She didn't want to wake the man up. He rarely ever rested.

She took the cover that had been covering her and placed it around Naru's shoulders before heading towards the door. She stopped as she heard the growling. She vowed to never buy a dog. She gasped as the door burst open and she came face to face with the werewolf that everyone had been talking about.

Mai screamed as the wolf launched at her before something knocked her out of the way and she groaned before opening her eyes and squeaking as she saw Naru was lying on top of her. She could feel her cheeks burning bright red before they heard a crash and their attention was drawn to the window of the library and they saw that the window was shattered.

"Aunt Rena's gone!" they both looked at the busted door and saw that Kim was standing there and her eyes went wide. "I'll come back later…Aunt Rena can wait until you're finished."


	4. Secrets and Doors

Since I have nothing to say, except this has SPOILERS, just review. And for those that are wondering why I am not explaining the SPOILERS, they will be explained as Mai learns the secrets! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4 – Secrets and Doors

"What were you two thinking?!" Madoka growled at them and Mai glanced at Naru out of the corner of her eye and saw from the downward turn of his mouth that he was not happy about being scolded.

"I was thinking that Mai shouldn't be wolf food. But by all means if you would rather have her dead I won't push her out of the way next time." Naru said coolly and Mai shot him a glare that was meant to kill but he didn't even look in her direction.

"Oh, no, you don't, Naru. Don't you dare turn this on me, Ol-" Madoka was about to say something else, Mai just knew it until Naru interrupted the older woman from her ramblings.

"Madoka!" he snapped and Mai didn't see the glance he shot at her. "The fact is the wolf tried to attack Mai and I pushed her out of the way and we landed in a…compromising position. It is not my fault," he stopped when Mai cleared her throat loudly. "Or Mai's fault, that we landed as such. Now would you please quit yelling at us so that we can attempt to find Mrs. Lunar?"

"Naru…I swear to everything that's good and green, one of these days you are going to mess up so badly that you won't be able to talk your way out of it and I want to be there when it happens." Madoka said before leaving the room, Lin raised an eyebrow at Naru before following the distressed curly haired woman out of the room, once again leaving Naru and Mai alone.

"Um…I'm sorry that you got balled out by her…and thank you for saving my life." Mai whispered and Naru sighed before he sat down at the computer and began to type and Mai realized that she had been dismissed. She turned and began to walk towards the still damaged door.

"She's angry at me. And you're welcome." he replied and she turned to look at him stunned before she smiled at his back and running out the door in search of Kim, deciding it was time to hunt for the other secret passageway that Madeline had told her about in her dream.

* * *

They searched for almost five hours. And had no luck in finding any sort of door. They pulled and tugged on anything that might have been a lever but nothing happened. Mai landed on her bed that night sore and exhausted. She wasn't going to go to Naru and tell him that she hadn't found anything.

She wondered where on earth the other secret door was. She knew Madeline hadn't been lying about it. But they had looked everywhere that was possibly feasible and there was nowhere else to look. Mai sat up as she realized that the one place they hadn't looked was in the library.

She ran out of her room and down the steps before stopping as all the lights went out and she was thrown into darkness. She could feel something watching her and she looked around desperately, wanting to see whatever was watching her. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating as she continued to look before she screamed as something wrapped around her throat.

She tried to pull the hands off before she realized quiet suddenly that there was nothing around her throat and yet she felt hands there. She struggled as hard as she could before finally it released her and she stumbled forward. She saw a beam of light and was relieved when Naru walked towards her with a flashlight.

"Mai, what are you doing?" he asked and she just shook her head before glancing over her shoulder and saw that was nothing there. She frowned, she hadn't imagined it. She knew that she hadn't imagined it. She turned to look at Naru and he saw the pale color of her skin.

"Something attacked me! I don't know what." Mai cried. She gasped as Naru grabbed her arm and dragged her into the library and closed the door that he and Lin had obviously hung after it had been knocked down by the werewolf, more commonly known as Rena as Kim's aunt was still missing from the house.

"What did it do, Mai?" Naru asked and Mai breathed before telling him how something had grabbed her throat and wouldn't let go of her no matter how hard she struggled until Naru had shown up with a flashlight and possibly scared it away.

"You'll be bruised by the morning." Naru said after he had examined her throat. Mai only managed a nod as she was still shaken up after having encountered what she suspected was a very unhappy ghost. And the ghost wanted her hurt. "Why are you up at this hour?"

"Oh, that's right!" Mai jumped up from the couch and went to the bookshelf that was a slightly darker shade of wood than the others. She examined the shelf as she felt Naru's eyes on her back. She pulled on one of the books and gasped as the shelf swung open and she turned to look at the man staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"So, it seems you've found the other secret passageway." he said and Mai frowned before she nodded as she realized something else that had been bothering her since she had spoken with Madeline.

"Yeah, but Madeline said that there was some sort of puzzle about the doors at the end of each passage but what could she mean?" Mai said softly before looking up as Naru was suddenly beside her and very close. She could feel her heart beginning to do a little tap dance and she kept telling it to stop but it didn't want to listen to her.

"The only way we are going to find out is if we go down the passage and see what's waiting for us." he replied before he walked inside and she hurriedly followed him because she knew how much Naru loved hospitals and she had no desire to sit by Naru in an English hospital.

"Mai, I don't think you should come." Naru said as he stopped at the bottom of the steps and shone the light in the direction so that he could see her face and she made sure to give him a disbelieving look.

"This coming from the guy that seems to be put in the hospital after almost every case? You are not going anywhere alone." she snapped at him and she gasped as she found herself pinned against the wall with Naru's hands holding her there.

"May I remind you that most of time it's because I'm protecting you?" he growled and Mai glared up at him.

"And shouldn't I be allowed to return the favor?" she snapped and he growled before his hands tightened on her shoulders before he pushed himself away and she saw him pick the flashlight up that he had dropped when he pinned her against the wall.

"Naru?" she questioned softly as she had never seen him act so upset before and she wondered what was wrong.

"Forget it. I shouldn't have done that. Let's see what's at the end of this tunnel." they walked in a strained silence and Mai wondered if Naru's odd behavior had anything to do with the fact that Naru's parents had obviously given him a shock.

Mai gasped as they reached the door. It was an exact duplicate of the passageway that was opened up by the turning gargoyle. She looked at Naru and saw that he looked slightly surprised as well. She was glad that she wasn't the only surprised by the duplication.

"Naru…" Mai trailed off as Naru raised his hand to stop her and she watched as he reached out and pressed against the gargoyle and it gave way beneath the pressure of his hand. She squeaked as gears started sounding and she felt the ground shaking beneath her before she squeaked as it gave beneath her feet and she fell.

"Mai?" Naru called and Mai looked up as he shone the light on her and she saw with wide eyes that the floor had turned into a set of steps that she had landed on. With Naru's help she climbed back to her feet and they slowly descended the steps and Naru made sure his hand was underneath Mai's elbow the whole time. He wasn't going to let her fall and kill herself.

"We must be at least a hundred feet under the house." Mai said after they had walked for nearly fifteen minutes and were still not at the bottom of the steps. Naru was beginning to wonder if there was even an end to the stairs. Just as he was about to send Mai back up he felt his foot make contact with the bottom of the stairs. Mai looked at him and he could see the hint of fear in her eyes.

"Naru, where on earth is this going?" she asked. Naru made no response as he didn't want her to hear him admit that he really didn't know what was going on. He wasn't to sure where the passageway was going but if had something to do with the case then they had no choice but to investigate.

Mai jerked to a stop when she felt the same ominous presence pushing down on her from the main hallway. She didn't notice how Naru had turned to look at her as suddenly her lungs constricted and she found it was getting very hard to breath. She struggled until she began to feel dizzy and she began to fall before something caught her and the suffocation went away, again.

"Mai?" Naru questioned the girl that he held as she attempted to regain her breath for some reason that he could not see. He had known something was wrong when she stopped for no reason and when she had started to pitch forward he knew that something was hurting her. And he couldn't stop the damn thing because he couldn't see it!

"That…thing…" she whispered and he frowned as he knew what she was talking about. He had a feeling that he knew who the ghost was that was trying to hurt Mai and he had no way of stopping it. He blinked as Mai suddenly giggled before she pushed away from him and straightened her skirt.

"I wish I knew why girls love these skirts." Mai said and Naru's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"Madeline." he stated and the girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow before she smiled as though pleased by his realization that she wasn't actually Mai.

"Good, but it seems that as much as you deny it…you still protect Mai. So much worry over someone that you deny caring for." Mai said and Naru frowned before grabbing her collar of Mai's shirt and pulling the possessed girl towards him with a hard tug.

"My relationship with anyone, especially Mai, is none of your concern. So quit implying something that isn't there and will never be there." Naru growled at her and Mai giggled before she pulled his hand off of her shirt and she moved back slightly.

"Something that isn't there? So that heated look that I, and the other ghosts of this house, see you use to look at Mai is our imaginations? I hate to say this…but as ghosts we no longer have an imagination." Madeline told him and Naru growled, not even Lin noticed how he looked at Mai and the man wouldn't have said anything at any rate.

"This is none of your concern, Madeline. Why are you so interested in my life?" he demanded and Madeline laughed at the expression on the man's face, a ghost's eyesight was excellent in the dark.

"Because, dear Naru, you are like my youngest son. To stubborn to admit that you love someone and yet you protect them with your very life and you tend to be very jealous when it comes to your loved ones." Madeline said and Naru frowned before grabbing Mai's arm and pulling her close to him and he felt Madeline's laughter.

"See? You're upset because I've possessed her. You're upset with me because of that. Your precious Mai has to channel a ghost. How long?" she whispered before pressing her lips back to his and Naru pushed her away hard and was thankful for the cover of the darkness as he knew that his pale skin was flushed red.

"N-Naru?" came Mai's soft voice and he let out a breath of air when he realized that Madeline had left the teenage girl alone for the moment. He was slightly pleased to realize that Mai was back. He certainly didn't need a possessed Mai throwing herself at him and he wondered briefly if Madeline had some sort of creepy crush on him. He hoped not, it was not doing good things for him to have Mai's lips pressed against his all the time.

"What happened?" Mai felt funny, her lips felt all tingly and she couldn't figure it out. She pressed her fingers against her lips but felt nothing odd about her lips. She saw Naru pick up the flashlight and frowned when she realized he had dropped it and she couldn't seem to remember why.

"Nothing. You fainted. Come on, we should see where this goes before I send Lin down her with cameras." Naru said in his coolest voice and Mai wondered briefly what she had done to make him angry at her.

"Cameras? Naru, you didn't bring any cameras!" Mai said as she struggled to stay beside Naru. What was wrong with him? If she didn't know better she would have said that he was trying to get away from her for some reason that she obviously didn't know.

"My father is sending us cameras. I know that Madoka told you he was also paranormal researcher." he said and Mai frowned before it clicked into place and she couldn't help but smile.

"You asked your father for help!" she squealed and Naru looked over his shoulder and was slightly surprised at the cheerful look on her face, why was she so happy that his father had forced his help on them?

"Why are you so happy about that?" he demanded as he decided the only way he'd find out was to ask. He was to tired and upset to try and read her at the moment and the fact that it was pitch black.

"Because…it's nice to see other people getting along with their parents. Even when mine were alive…I rarely ever got to see them. They were always so busy, nearly working themselves to death because they wanted me to have a good life. And I do…but…it's a life without them. You're lucky Naru…you have parents that love you very much. I might have only met them for a moment but I could tell that they really love you." Mai said and Naru felt his eyes widen a slight fraction and he made sure that she couldn't see his face.

Mai hadn't expected a reply from Naru. It had been the first time she had talked about her family openly. And it had to be to Naru of all people that she told and she knew he wouldn't have said anything. She ran into him and looked over his shoulder and groaned. The new passageway was a dead end.

"Something's wrong." Naru said and Mai felt like saying 'duh!' but instead she gently pulled on his sleeve and he turned to look down at her and saw that she was struggling to stay awake. He frowned before both of their attentions were caught by a low growling coming from the wall. Naru's head snapped around and they both took a step back as a dog's head pushed through the wall and Naru recognized it as the wolf that had tried to eat them in the library.

"Mai…" Naru trailed off as he saw that Mai's eyes had gone dull. She moved away from him and towards the dog. She reached her hand out to touch the dog and Naru stood slightly frozen as he watched her.

A sudden image of Gene getting hit by a car flashed through his mind. He reached out and grabbed Mai's wrist and he ducked the fist that she threw at him and she struggled against him as he pulled her away from the dog as it began to move even more through the wall. He picked her up, kicking and screaming, and ran. It wasn't easy running down the hallway, blindly as he had dropped the flashlight, and carrying a kicking and screaming girl.

He managed to get up the steps and slam the bookshelf shut and he put Mai down and she tried to get at the bookshelf angrily while scratching at him and actually hitting skin on his neck. He did the only thing he could to hope to calm her. He backhanded her extremely hard and she collapsed in his arms.

He picked her up and put her on the couch. He watched as her eyes slowly began to open and he saw tears in her eyes. Acting completely out of character he wiped her tears away and she turned towards his hand and he watched as she went to sleep. Something was in the house that wanted her dead and he had a feeling it was because she had agreed to help Kim's aunt. He shook his head before going back to his computer.

* * *

"The last thing I remember was tugging on Naru's shirt sleeve before I woke up on the couch this morning." Mai told Naru and Lin. Lin was the one asking her what had happened and Mai wondered briefly why Naru wasn't the one interviewing her about what had happened. He actually looked strained, he had told her how she had gone crazy and the only way he could calm her was to slap her.

She had used Kim's make-up and she thought she had hidden the bruise rather well. Madoka had told her that Naru didn't know he had left a bruise. And Mai had begged the blonde-brown haired woman not to tell him. She needed Naru to be at his best on this case. Her friend's aunt was missing and no one could figure out where the woman was and everyone was beginning to fear the worst.

"Naru, you said that Mai started acting odd when she tried to touch the dog." Lin looked at Naru and the man nodded. He was still shaken up at the fact that he had seen Gene's death replay in his mind so vividly when Mai had tried to pet the dog. There had been nothing to warrant the vision and the only reason he could come up with that he had the vision was because if Mai had touched the dog she would have been killed.

"Hey, Naru, you have some visitors!" Madoka walked into the library with two people trailing behind her that Mai recognized as Naru's parents. She jumped up and saw with a small amount of surprise that Naru looked startled at the appearance of his parents.

"Oh, you must be Mai. Madoka has told us so much about you." Mai blinked as the brown headed woman, with streaks of grey, that was Naru's mother took her hand gently in her own. "Not many could put up with someone like our son, Oliver Davis."

Mai's hands went cold and she looked at Naru with wide eyes and if she had been paying attention she would have seen the pale color on his face. She could feel her breathing grow short and she turned to meet his mother's eyes.

"Oliver Davis?" she whispered with what little breath that had been knocked out of her.


	5. Jonathon

I know that some people type Noll after Mai finds out who he is, but I prefer to type Naru; I hope you all don't mind! But his parents will be calling him Noll. Love and Peace! This chapter has HUGE SPOILERS...and remember to review!

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Chapter 5- Jonathon 

Mai's tears were easily hidden by the rain that was pouring down on her. She was sitting on the outside steps of Kim's house and she was being soaked by the rain but she didn't even notice. She hadn't moved when Madoka had come outside and put a cover around her shoulders before going back inside. Mai was in a shock and everyone knew she needed to be left alone.

Mai's wet bangs fell into her eyes but she made no attempts to push them out of her eyes. She heard the door open and felt a presence settle beside her. She bowed her head as the feeling of someone beside her broke her resolve to not sob. The sobs were ragged and torn from her throat. She felt arms around her and she buried her head into the shoulder of the person.

"Shh, it's alright, Mai. Come now, stop crying." Mai recognized the voice as Madoka's and the brown headed girl just shook with her sobs. Madoka sighed softly as she rubbed the girl's back. She chuckled to herself as she remembered how Gene had always told Naru that he was terrible with girls. She knew Gene was probably somewhere up in the sky either planning on how to kill Naru or trying to not laugh.

"Come on, you'll catch the death of you out here." Mai didn't try to resist Madoka as the woman helped her up and led her back into the house. Madoka left her at the front door to go get towels. Mai heard voices coming from the library and she went over there, clutching at the cover that was lying limply on her shoulders.

"We certainly did not teach you to lie, Oliver Davis! Did you see that poor girl? She was as pale as a sheet when she found out! I thought she was going to faint, I can't believe you!" Mai heard a female voice steadily rising in her anger.

"Luella, calm down. Noll, you should have planned this out better. You were completely unprepared, following Mai here on her vacation and you expected us to know that you had never told her who you were." a male voice joined and Mai gently knocked on the door before she entered and everyone fell silent.

"I'm sorry I reacted so terribly. I was very rude for running off." Mai whispered as she stood there, avoiding Naru's eyes and opting to stare at the floor instead. She heard a soft sigh and soon her head was being tilted up by the woman. She met the warm green eyes. She felt her sadness deepen as she realized that these people had truly not known that she didn't know who their son was. She managed to give a weak smile to the woman and the woman seemed happy to return the smile.

"Don't worry about it, dear. I suppose that wasn't the best way to find out." Naru's mother said and Mai knew that this was the Luella that the man had been scolding for berating Naru. Mai gulped and didn't answer as she was certain that her voice would crack from all the crying that she had been doing.

"Luella! Martin! I lost her! I lost her!" Madoka came running in with towels in her arms and everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows and she stopped before laughing and going to Mai and wrapping towels around the girl. "Don't go running off! It was hard enough to get you inside the house." Madoka joked and though Mai didn't want to smile she couldn't stop the upturning of her lips.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry." Mai said. Madoka asked Luella and Martin to see if they could find Lin and told Mai to go change. When everyone, besides Naru, had left the room she turned to look at the man. Naru met her gaze before Madoka sat down beside him on the couch.

"Noll, I don't know what to say. I thought that you were staying in Japan because you cared for Mai and she filled that hole that had been left by Gene's death. But Noll, dear lord, you lied to her. Why did you lie to her?" Madoka demanded and Naru sighed before he stood up and went to the bookshelf that hid the secret passageway.

"Because I did not want to be burdened as Oliver Davis and it was easier to take on an alias." he answered and Madoka had to keep from growling. She had every desire to jump up and grab the man and shake him as hard as she could. She thought it would do him good but she resisted the urge.

"You are without the doubt the most selfish person on this planet! You lied because you didn't want to be yourself. Do you realize that you put that girl that you hired into tears? Dammit, Noll. Did Gene not teach you a single thing about being considerate?" Madoka snapped at him.

"This isn't about Gene!" Naru whirled around with fire in his eyes and Madoka would have normally quit but she thought if she couldn't shake him she could at least make him feel bad. He had deserved this since she had seen how he seemed to ignore Mai until she was in danger or upset. He needed to understand that someone like Mai needed someone like him to pay attention to her more often. And Mai was the sort of person that wasn't going to do something like fainting, like Masako, to get attention all the time.

"It isn't? Naru, get off of it! Everyone, even your parents, can see that this is about Gene and most certainly not about Mai." Madoka said hotly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naru was losing his temper slowly and if Madoka didn't quit poking at his temper he was going to end up killing the woman. What was she trying to prove?

"Let's see, Gene went halfway across the world to visit one of your parents' friends and he is killed. You went halfway across the world to find him, understandable as he was your twin. But then your assistant, Mai, goes halfway across the world to visit a friend of hers. The moment you find out she's in the slightest bit of danger and you come running back to England.

"You think this isn't about Gene? Oh, come off of it. What are you trying to prove, Noll? Are you trying to prove that you could have stopped Gene from being killed if you had been there? Are you using Mai as a surrogate? Noll…oh, I don't want to be around you right now!" Madoka left the room in a rush, not wanting to be around the source of her anger.

'This isn't about Gene. This was never about Gene.' Naru told himself as he sat down in front of his computer. He opened a document on his computer and attempted to read the file that was glaring at him but he found that the only thing he could concentrate on was the image of Mai standing in the library dripping with rain water and her face covered in tears and a limp, wet cover around her shoulders.

"This isn't about Gene." he told himself angrily. 'Sure it isn't.' said a little voice in his head. Naru frowned before he stood up and left the library angrily.

* * *

Mai had changed into a pair of pajamas but hadn't bothered to dry her hair. She lay on her bed on her side with her hands wiping away stray tears when they leaked out from her eyes. She was beginning to feel the anger and depression settle on her and she was doing everything she could to stop it. And she was failing terribly in the battle. She sniffled and sat up while wiping futilely. There was a soft knock on her door and she called to come in and she felt her eyes widen when she saw it was Naru's mother. 

"Mrs. Davis!" Mai was about to stand up before the woman raised her hand and effectively stopped Mai. The woman gave a warm smile before going over and sitting beside Mai. Mai jumped slightly as the woman put her hand over Mai's.

"I'm sorry that I upset you so much. I know that it was mostly Noll's fault but I feel like I lit the fuse that set off the bomb." Luella said and Mai managed to give her a watery smile.

"It's alright, Mrs. Davis. I should have probably expected this from Naru, he never told me anything about his family and I guess I never really asked him about his family. I just thought…I don't know, I never thought he was a different nationality. He looked Japanese." Mai said and Luella smiled before standing up and going over to the window.

"First things first, stop calling me 'Mrs. Davis' it makes me feel old." that got a small laugh out of Mai and Luella turned to smile at her. "You can call me 'Luella' and second…Noll is my adopted son. As was his brother, Gene."

"Gene?" Mai asked. She had never heard about Naru having a brother. Of course there wasn't much she could say; she didn't know that Naru was Oliver Davis! It shouldn't have been a shock that Naru had a brother.

"Yes, I can't have children because of a disease I had when I was young. Anyway, I had a friend that is Japanese and she said that her friend ran an orphanage. I visited and I saw the twins, at five years old, and I fell in love. They had been a car wreck and lost their memory and their parents. After talking to my husband we adopted them and they seemed to fit in England perfectly. I learned Japanese because they kept whispering to each other and I was curious. I found out they were just talking about things little boys talk about.

"They grew up, I guess. Before I knew it my friends were inviting Gene to Japan. Noll didn't want to go, though he had been invited as well, and he also had school things to worry about. The silly boy decided to go to college at fourteen. Anyway, at fifteen Gene went to Japan…" Luella's voice cracked slightly and Mai wondered what was wrong when she saw tears in the older woman's eyes.

"Mai, Noll has this ability to touch a person's things and see what happens to them." Luella paused and Mai waited, her heart beating frantically. "One day, Noll went into Gene's room to borrow something…and when I walked past the room, Noll was sitting on the bed…so still. He looked up at me, with wet cheeks, and told me that someone had hit Gene in a car and had dumped him in a pond somewhere." Luella's eyes overflowed and Mai could feel tears in her own eyes.

"I'm sorry, you didn't have to tell me all this." Mai whispered and Luella smiled at her before going over and putting her hand on Mai's head.

"After everything Madoka told us about you after her first visit it felt as though you were a part of the family. I think it's time that all secrets between you and Naru were cleared up, he may be angry at me later for telling you about Gene but I don't think you should be kept in the dark." Luella smiled and Mai nodded before standing up.

"Well my friend's aunt is still missing and Naru isn't paying me by the hour for me to sit here and mope around." Mai said and Luella nodded before she left and Mai changed quickly back into regular clothes. She took a deep breath before walking out of her room.

'Naru's past isn't that different from mine. We both lost loved ones.' she thought before she peeked into the library and was surprised to find it that it was empty. She blinked in surprise before leaving and going to the gargoyle. She turned it in the sequence that opened the passageway before pulling out the small flashlight she had started carrying with her. She quickly went through the passage and to the door. She reached out and pulled and felt her eyes widen when it opened. She slowly walked down the extended passage and found another door with symbols on it.

Not knowing how she knew she began to put the symbols in a certain order. She gasped as the door opened to reveal a laboratory. She realized that she didn't need her flashlight and quickly turned it off before going into the lab. She looked around, impressed that something like that could be hidden. She saw a book on one of the tables and picked it up. She flipped through the book and the last entry caught her attention when she saw that Jonathon Lunar's signature was at the bottom.

_'That witch has cursed me! Every night I get so hungry and when I wake up in the morning I cannot remember anything from the night before! Damn her day one! Father should have killed her the day he found her with that black arts book. But oh, no! She's innocent! She's a curious child! _

_'She was no child, that witch has cursed me for finding out she was still using that book. She's not innocent, she was never innocent and yet I get blamed for speaking out against her. She will not get away with this nor her sons who she has taught the black arts to.'_

Mai frowned as the entry ended. Jonathon had accused Madeline of being a witch but Madeline was denying it. Mai didn't know which one they should believe. Naru seemed to trust Madeline and she frowned. Why did he trust Madeline so much? She shook her head before deciding that Naru needed to see the notebook. She looked around the laboratory even more but found nothing else that caught her eye.

'I wonder what they did down here. It looks almost as though they did medical experiments down here.' Mai thought before dizziness came back over her and her subconscious went black. Madeline raised Mai's head up and looked around before down at the book in Mai's head.

"What a liar! Jonathon, you fool!" Madeline snapped before she went over to the well in the middle of the lab. She threw the book down it before quickly leaving and walking back into the main hallway and waiting for the secret door to close. She headed to the main stairs and looked down them. 'And I am sorry for this Mai, but you cannot remember what you found.' Madeline threw herself down the steps.

* * *

"Noll." Naru held his hand up before Lin could continue and he glared up at the older man. 

"I'm a jerk. I should have told Mai. You want to strangle me like everyone else. I should apologize to Mai when I next see her. Am I right?" Naru asked and Lin raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

"No, _you_ should _find_ Mai and apologize to her. Not wait for her to come find you. You were the one that hurt her; I don't see why she should have to find you and have to ask for an apology." Lin said and Naru didn't think he was going to be able to take much more guilt poured down on him. And though he hated it he knew that Lin was right. He sighed before walking out of the library and he frowned as he saw Mai at the top of the stairs and his eyes widened when she threw herself down the stairs.

"Mai!" he ran and barely caught her but he had seen her head hit the railing hard but he was slightly relieved that she was breathing and that there was no blood. But when he felt her head he felt a bump. He heard a quick intake of breath and he looked over his shoulder and saw his mother standing there.

"Call an ambulance!" his mother ran to them and gently pulled Mai's head into her lap and Naru went to call the ambulance after his mother had pointed to the library while obviously wanting him to call.

* * *

"She has a mild concussion and a mild case of amnesia. I asked her what the last thing was that she remembered and she said it was talking to you, Mrs. Davis, in her bedroom." the doctor said and Naru looked at his mother whose eyes had gone very wide. 

"That's almost an hour and a half of lost time." Luella looked at her husband who shook his head. Naru frowned. She didn't remember throwing herself down the steps. He suddenly knew what had happened and he kept the growl from escaping his throat.

"Is she awake?" Luella asked and the doctor smiled before nodding.

"Yes, she's good to leave as soon as she signs the release papers. She's in the third ER room on the left." the doctor said and the Davis trio found Mai sitting on one the beds and she smiled at them as they entered the curtained room.

"Guess I hit my head." she said and Naru sighed before sitting beside her on the bed and Mai felt her cheeks flame. She felt her heart start beating even more when Naru's parents slipped out and left her and Naru alone.

"Listen because I won't repeat myself. I'm sorry." Mai blinked before jumping off the bed and looking under it before whirling around and looking for someone else in the room until her head began to spin and she was forced to sit back down on the bed beside Naru.

"I must have hit my head extremely hard. I could have sworn that you just apologized to me." Mai said and Naru rolled his eyes. He should have known that would be Mai's reaction. He never apologized to anyone and he had never had the desire to apologize to anyone before.

"Mai…you heard right. I was wrong and I should have told you who I was when I hired you." Naru told her, cursing his mother with every word he said as he could see her outline through the curtain and knew if he didn't say what she wanted him to say that he was a dead man.

"It's alright…we really didn't know each other when you hired me. But do I have to call you 'Dr. Davis' now…or can I still call you 'Naru'?" she asked shyly and she bit her lip as Naru looked her in the eyes and she felt her whole face turn red as Naru's lips turned up slightly like they had when they were at Yasuhara's school.

"Since you came up with that absurd nickname…I suppose I can let you keep calling me it." he said and Mai felt her mouth drop before she scowled as Naru's true smile turned into a smirk.

"Absurd?! Don't you tell me the nickname I gave you is absurd! Mr. I'm-so-much-better-and-handsome-than-everyone-else! Why I out to slug you!" Mai's hand shot out and Naru caught it before he looked at Mai who looked as though she were trying to not laugh and Naru felt his breath catch. She was so close that it would have been extremely easy to lean in and catch her lips in a kiss. Very easy.

"Mai! We have the discharge papers!" Luella entered the room and Naru let Mai go and jumped up from the bed and exited the room and found his father standing at the exit with his arms crossed.

"Father." Naru said and the man turned to look at him. Professor Davis was a tall man with graying hair and light blue eyes. Anybody meeting him would have thought of him as a father figure. Naru knew that the man wanted to be a grandfather but Naru remembered the threats that his mother had given him and Gene on having a child before they turned twenty-one.

"I believe I understand now." his father said with a smile and Naru frowned. Why was everyone saying vague things forcing him, of all people, to question what they meant? "I see why you don't want to stay here in England. That dear girl means more to you than just an assistant."

"That isn't the reason. I haven't found Gene yet and that is the reason that I am staying in Japan not because of some preconceived notion that you and mother have over the fact that I care for Mai. She will never be anything more than an assistant." Naru snapped.

Naru turned around when he heard an intake of breath and felt his face pale when he saw Mai standing there with his mother holding her elbow. He saw Mai's eyes were beginning to tear up and she dropped her head. He turned to look at his father and the man shook his head. Naru left the hospital and went to sit in the car.

"Mai…" Luella trailed off as Mai jerked away. She looked at the older woman as tears spilled from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

"It doesn't matter anymore. If he doesn't care then so be it. I shouldn't have expected anything else from him." Mai said before she slowly walked out of the hospital as well. The parents exchanged looks before Luella shook her head.

"Gene always said that Noll could keep his mouth shut at the best of times but when he opened it he stuck his foot down his mouth. I suppose Gene knew how things would occur. He always knew what would happen. Gene was that way." Luella said and Martin nodded before he wrapped his arm around his wife.

"We really should leave this to Lin and Madoka. Noll is almost eighteen and…well…we can see how things can play out." Martin said before leading her out of the hospital.

* * *

"Now this is interesting. Madeline's brother, Jonathon, reported Madeline missing almost three months after his neighbors had reported her missing. But if she was murdered by him…then he must have hid the body somewhere. But there is no explanation to why he killed her." Madoka said as she typed on the laptop hurriedly, trying to find the information. 

"I have a theory. If Madeline _was_ a witch and cursed Jonathon for angering her…then he killed her because of it." Lin said from where he was sitting in one of the chairs behind Madoka as she sat at the desk with the computer.

"It's a good theory…except there's no evidence to support it. The lycanthrope didn't start showing up until after Madeline disappeared and everyone was certain that she was in hiding and cursing her brother. No one once suspected that her brother could have _made_ her disappear.

"In all actuality he wasn't a bad person but he did seem to be a little odd. He read books that were…well not what a person of that day and age should have been reading." Madoka stopped speaking as Naru entered the room with a glare that could have killed. She stopped talking as he picked up the files and turned around and left. She shared a glance with Lin who sighed.

"He's done something to Mai again. We both know that look. That's the 'I-hurt-Mai-and-made-her-sad-and-now-I'm-going-drown-in-guilt' look." Lin said and Madoka nodded before she shook her head.

"I guess no one is perfect." Madoka agreed softly.

* * *

"We can't trust Madeline or Jonathon." Naru said after he read Madoka's research. The curly haired woman nodded while shooting a look at Mai who seemed to be engrossed in reading a book from one of the shelves. When Madoka saw that it was in Russian she knew the girl was faking it. And Madoka wondered if she was faking it just so that Naru wouldn't talk to her. 

"Right. This is where things get really weird though. There is no death certificate for a 'Jonathon Lunar' or any Jonathon during the time period that he would have died given the average death age of a man back then." Madoka told him and he saw Mai put her book down.

"Could he have died somewhere else? Maybe in a different country?" Mai asked softly, she didn't want to upset Naru more than she already seemed to with just her presence.

"No, people reported having seen him in the house and around until one day they didn't see him anymore. They figured that he just died and that his family had a small funeral with no one else invited. But the thing is…" she trailed off as Naru looked up at her.

"No death certificate." Naru finished and Madoka nodded before there was a knock on the door and Kim entered looking extremely pale. And behind her followed the one person that no one had expected to see.

A very much alive Jonathon Lunar gave them a smile and waved. Mai felt her heart began to pound and she felt a steadying hand on her arm and she turned to see that Naru was the one holding her and she saw that his face had also gone a pasty white.

"I heard that you were looking for me. I'm Jonathon Lunar…Rena's husband." the man said.


	6. The Witch and the Werewolf

Chapter 6...wow, this thing is going fast. I have nothing to say...wait a minute, yeah I do. REVIEW! I'm going to challenge all my readers. I want at least eighty reviews before I update again. Remember this is a challenge. If you all keep up your end, I may update with _two_ chapters next time. Love and Peace!

* * *

Chapter 6- The Witch and the Werewolf

"How?" Madoka was the first one that got her voice to work. Jonathon turned to look at her and gave a smile before he went to the couch and sat down cross legged. Mai saw out of the corner of her eye that Kim wasn't fairing any better than the rest of them and Mai recalled that Kim had told her that her uncle's name was 'Jake'. Apparently it had been an alias.

"Very simple. I'm a werewolf and because of that…well…I'm immortal. And so is Rena…she shouldn't have been so snoopy!" Jonathon said and Mai took a deep breath and calmed her heartbeat before meeting his eyes.

"Mr. Lunar, why do you say that? Are you saying that Rena…isn't your original wife?" Mai asked and Jonathon's attention was immediately on her and Mai felt her heart began to beat fast again when she met his red eyes, she wondered if he had red eyes because he was a werewolf.

"No, my original wife died of old age almost a hundred years ago. I met Rena and married her. Life has to move on. Especially when time has been frozen for a person. You have to keep living and I have. And the reason I cannot die is because of that witch, Madeline." Jonathon said and Mai felt her hackles rise but before she could throw herself at the man Naru had stepped in front of her path.

"Well, we have a different story from Madeline herself." Naru said and Jonathon gave a small laugh.

"And who are you going to trust? A witch?" Jonathon came back with and Mai could have sworn she heard a soft chuckle from Naru.

"And you are suggesting that we trust a werewolf? Your niece's friend was almost eaten by your wife. I don't think we'll trust you anymore than we trust Madeline." Naru said and Mai looked at him surprised. She thought Naru trusted Madeline. Most of their successive investigations in finding the passageways were thanks to Madeline.

"I suppose neither are very trustworthy, Dr. Davis. But then again…I'm not a ghost with an ulterior motive." Jonathon said and Naru narrowed his eyes slightly. He had immediately disliked the man when he walked in and he had no desire to let Mai talk to the man anymore.

"Well, this is an ongoing investigation. I would appreciate it if you didn't stay here, Mr. Lunar." Madoka intervened. "We can contact you if the need be." Jonathon smiled at Madoka before he got up and left and Kim sat down hard and Mai went over to her and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"I had no idea." Kim whispered and Mai sighed before looking up at Naru who shook his head and sat down in the chair beside the couch. (AN: I just realized that they seem to like that couch a lot)

"Ms. Lunar…how did you come to live with Jonathon and his wife?" Naru asked and Mai felt Kim's shoulders shaking underneath the arm that she had wrapped around them. Mai knew that Kim was upset by what she had learned. Mai would be to if she found out the uncle that she had been living with was over a hundred years old.

"I…my parents died when I was little and I can't remember living anywhere else except this house. Aunt Rena always told me that my parents had died in a car crash. Do you think she knew what Jonathon was?" Kim looked at Naru and the man shook his head before looking at the file that he held in his hands.

"No, I doubt she knew. That's probably not something you tell the woman that you're going to marry." Naru pointed out and Kim nodded. Mai could feel a headache beginning to form at the back of her neck. This was becoming all too much and that sickening dizzy feeling was coming back. She stood up and said she was going to go to her room. By the time she reached the bed the whole room was spinning and she flopped down on the bed.

* * *

Mai's vision was black. She couldn't see anything in front of her. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She could feel the dark pressing down on her and she was beginning to fear that she was going to suffocate from the lack of light. She was relieved when the darkness was broken by the light coming from an open door and then she found herself standing in the hallway. She could also feel _his_ presence beside her.

She turned and saw that he was staring at the open door with an unreadable expression in his eyes. He turned to look at her after staring at the door for nearly ten minutes and Mai felt her heart accelerate slightly at the angry look in his eyes. She had never seen the Naru in her dreams look so…well, Naru-like!

"I don't understand. It has changed drastically." he said and Mai could hear the aggravation in his voice and was taken back by it. She watched him with worried eyes and finally he smiled at her before going to her and placing his hand on her head.

"And I shouldn't take it out on you. It isn't your fault that Jonathon and Madeline's accounts of what happened are drastically different." he said before they both jumped slightly as the front door closed with a sharp snap. She looked at him slightly scared and he shook his head.

"Don't worry…the ghosts won't hurt you right now. They're waiting…for something. I just don't know what." Naru told her and Mai frowned.

"Ghosts? Are you saying there's more than one ghost?" Mai cried and Naru nodded before he seemed to sigh.

"Mai, I can't help you in this case…things…they're becoming complicated and…I can't explain right now." Mai felt her breathing catch as everything disappeared into the same suffocating darkness before she had met Naru in the house. The last thing that she remembered was the darkness.

* * *

Naru was walking past Mai's room when heard the sobbing. He frowned before knocking on the door but he got no response except the same sobbing. Even though he knew that he was the last person he wanted to see he entered the room and found her sitting on the bed curled up crying.

"Mai, what's wrong?" he asked and the girl looked up startled and he saw confusion in her eyes before she slid as far away from she could from him and the door and he knew instantly that she was possessed, again, and not by Madeline.

"You're that Dr. Davis guy. Mai cares for you a lot." the new ghost said through Mai as she stayed curled up. Naru was about to strangle the next ghost that mentioned something like that to him about Mai and him being together.

"Yes, and who are you?" he asked and the girl giggled before she uncurled her legs and stood on the bed and he blinked as she began to jump. He looked away when he realized that Mai was wearing one of her skirts.

"My name is Kelly. I'm one of the orphans that disappeared. Though I suppose drowning isn't really considered 'disappearing' is it?" the girl jumped off the bed and Naru looked back at her with a frown. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders at the look on the man's face.

"What do you mean?" Naru asked and the girl sighed before rolling her eyes at the question. Naru estimated her to be about ten years old during her death. Normally he would have not felt upset about it but he felt his heart give a small twinge at the sound of the ghost in Mai's body saying so easily how she died.

"When we were running away through the secret passageways, I tripped…and fell into the water and hit my head. I don't even remember drowning and I suppose that's a good thing. I've heard stories about drowning and I'm glad that I was unconscious." she whispered and Naru saw the girl wipe at her eyes. He frowned in worry and resisted the urge to take Mai in his arms and holding her. He stopped by telling himself that Mai was possessed by a child ghost.

"And why are you possessing Mai?" he asked and the girl looked at him curiously before she frowned.

"I don't know it's not like I tried to possess her. All I know that is one minute I'm not solid and the next thing I know I'm sitting on this bed crying. Do you know how long it's been since I was able to shed _real_ tears?" Mai asked and Naru felt slightly taken back before he raised an eyebrow and Mai giggled.

"A hundred years, if you were wondering. The last time I cried was because my parents died. I don't know what's going on in this house…but there are some evil ghosts here that cannot be stopped and will do all they can to make sure nothing changes." Mai said and Naru frowned.

"Do you know any of the ghosts?" he asked and Mai shook her head before her head dropped and she began to fall. Naru rushed forward and caught the girl and found his face extremely close to hers. His eyes trailed to her lips that were slightly parted with her breathing. Naru felt his face heat up as his breathing accelerated.

His lips brushed against hers. He pulled back immediately. He looked at her sleeping face before hauling Mai up and placing her on the bed. He made sure her head was on a pillow and that she would be comfortable when she woke up. He immediately left the room as he wanted to be nowhere near Mai when she woke up. It would be hard enough to explain why he was in her room let alone looming over her while she was asleep.

'What the?' he thought once he got back into his room. What had he been thinking back there? Simple. He hadn't been thinking. That much was easy to tell. If he had been thinking he would have not kissed Mai. Though as he sat on his bed he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to have Mai, the _real_ Mai, respond to his kiss. He shook the thought off as soon as it entered his mind. He could not think of Mai like that, they worked together. They could not have a relationship when they worked together.

'And what law says that?' a voice asked in his mind and Naru growled at himself and ignored the voice. He wasn't going to start talking to himself. Gene had always told him that they were going to have a problem with voices in their heads from talking to each other telepathically. Naru hadn't believed Gene then but now he was beginning to. Especially since Mai had come into his life.

* * *

"We could just flip a coin on who to trust." Madoka suggested after they had spent nearly three hours discussing the pros and cons of trusting each of the people and Mai tried not to laugh. She had to put her hand over her mouth the muffle the sound and she didn't see how Naru looked at her and watched her before he turned back to the computer and refused to voice his opinion on who to trust.

"I believe that we should divide into pairs and investigate the house more. We would undoubtedly find something that could swing our decision one way or another." Lin suggested and the women looked at each other and Mai shrugged. It was the best plan that anyone had suggested so far and it sounded good to her at least.

"That is a reasonable suggestion." Naru spoke up and Mai looked at him surprised. It had been the first time that he had said anything at all since they had regrouped in the library after eating the lunch that Kim had brought the, Mai also realized that she hadn't met Kim's great-aunt and when she asked why Kim had told her that the woman had left on a trip. Mai didn't believe it as Kim hadn't been able to look her in the eye.

"Good!" Mai suddenly didn't like the look that was in Madoka's eyes. She knew the woman was planning something. "Lin and I will finish exploring the secret passageway here in the library and Noll and Mai can finish with the gargoyle secret passageway."

"Madoka…" Naru was cut off as the woman pushed him and Mai out of the room and left them standing outside the door blinking at the closed library door. Naru frowned and tried to reopen the door but Madoka had locked the door.

"What is she trying to do?" Mai asked as Naru turned towards the stairs and they began to climb them before stopping at the gargoyle and he turned it each way.

"If I knew we wouldn't be locked out of the library right now, would we?" he asked and Mai sighed. He was in a bad mood and she didn't know why. He had been acting angry the whole evening and had refused to talk to her all day and if she hadn't known better she would have sworn that he was avoiding looking at her as well. She hadn't done anything that she knew of.

"Which one do you think we should trust, Naru?" Mai asked and she waited as she didn't get an answer. She hadn't expected one. Naru never answered her questions, even more so when he was angry with her for a reason that she didn't know. She was getting used to walking in the dark until his voice cut through the darkness as they reached the door.

"When we get all of the facts I'll know, until then as far as I'm concerned we can trust neither." he replied and as he reached out for the door handle Mai grabbed his wrist as fear swept through.

"Can we go back?" she whispered and Naru noted the change in her voice and he looked down at her sharply while expecting her to be possessed again. He was surprised when she drew closer to him and when he saw the tears in her eyes he knew that she wasn't possessed, just a very scared Mai.

"Mai?" he asked and Mai shook her head as she clutched at Naru's arm even tighter, not really sure why she was so scared of Naru opening the gargoyle door. She could feel the fear suffocating her and she had to force herself to answer.

"There's something…behind that door…" she couldn't put her fear into words and she felt her body shaking as the tears spilled. "It'll hurt us!" she whimpered. She was beginning to feel like Masako! And she couldn't explain why she was so scared of that stupid door!

"Mai…" Mai looked up, surprised, when Naru's hand cupped her face and even through the dim light of the flashlight she held she could see his deep blue eyes. She was surprised when he gently wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. "I won't let anything hurt you, Mai. Haven't I proven that?"

She just nodded and let him go. She should have known that Naru wouldn't let anything happen to her. It didn't make the fear that she had in the pit of her stomach go away though. She tried to control her breathing as Naru opened the door and she locked her knees as the door swung open. There was nothing there. Mai fell to the ground in relief, tears rolling down her cheeks. She shook her head as she felt Naru looking down at her. What was wrong with her?

"Mai…you can go back." Naru finally said and Mai stood up and shook her head and she looked at him with determined eyes.

"No…you said that you'd protect me. Well…I have to protect you then." she stated and Naru was glad for the cover of darkness. He didn't want her to see the smile that he was sporting. He just turned and walked through the door with Mai behind him. He was slightly surprised when Mai took his hand and held it. He felt her move closer and knew that she was trying to hide her fear and failing. With a shake of his head he gently wrapped his fingers around her hand that was clinging so tightly to his.

They reached another door and Mai felt her lungs constrict. Something was _wrong_ and she knew it had something to do with what was behind that door. She let go of Naru's hand reached out to touch the closed door. A shock went through her body when her fingers made contact with the cool stone and she slumped back onto Naru as everything began to spin.

"Mai?" he asked as he held her. 'Not again.' he wondered briefly if Mai had a sign on her forehead that said 'Possess me so I can drive my boss insane before he's twenty'. He wouldn't be surprised if she did. She stirred slightly in his arms and he was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Make everything quit spinning!" she begged and he almost sighed in relief when he realized that she hadn't been possessed again. As far as he was concerned he'd be happy to never have to speak to Madeline again, at least not through Mai. Madeline had that nasty habit of kissing him when in Mai's body.

"Close your eyes and focus on your breathing." he instructed and after a few moments he heard her breathing slow. He felt her shoulders stop shaking and soon she had pulled away from him though he instantly missed the warmth of her body. He growled softly at himself. She was his _assistant_. Nothing else! Nothing! He shook his head before he studied the door.

"There's a pattern. We'll need to get more information to find out how to open it." he said and Mai frowned as a memory flitted through her mind before disappearing out of her grasp. She knew that it had something to do with the door but for all that she was worth she couldn't remember what it was.

"Hai." she just agreed softly and they turned around and left the passageway. Mai had never been so glad to get out of the dark than she was at that moment. She watched as the door closed and she turned the flashlight off.

"I wonder if Lin-san and Madoka found anything- Naru?" Mai asked when she saw that the boy was slumped against the wall with his hand on his head. She watched him worriedly before he dropped his hand and she saw that his face was pale, paler than the normal white.

"Naru, what's wrong?" she cried and he shook his head before pulling himself up and Mai had never thought that she would be so glad to see his narcissistic expression slip onto his face.

"Nothing. I'm fine." he replied before they started down the steps to find Jonathon waiting at the front door with Kim. He gave them a small smile before walking to them.

"Good day, I came to pick a few of my things up so I can stay at the hotel." he said and Mai gulped as he picked her hand up and kissed the back of it. She felt her heart racing as the man reached out and felt her pulse point in her neck. She saw the hungry look in his eyes and his fangs, and wondered briefly if werewolves could bite when they weren't transformed. And weren't vampires the ones that liked blood?

"You have a very strong pulse." he commented and Mai fear shoot up her spine before she was being pulled away from the man rather roughly. She looked at the hands holding her arms and saw they were Naru's. She glared up at Naru as she could feel her skin already bruising beneath his hands.

"Gather your things and _leave_, Mr. Lunar." Naru snapped before he dragged Mai into the library and both Madoka and Lin looked up, startled at the angry entrance of the normally reserved man. Madoka opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but she was cut off by the obviously angry, and now verbal for some odd reason, Naru.

"He tried to bite her! That damned werewolf tried to bite her!" he snapped and the two adults looked surprised before looking at Mai who suddenly realized that Jonathon had been trying to bite her. She recalled the ravenous look that had been in his eyes and she shivered.

"Mai?" Madoka asked and all Mai could do was nod. She felt faint at the thought that she had almost been bitten by a hundred year old werewolf.

"I want him out of this house until this case is closed." Naru said in a dangerously cold voice that they all knew not to argue with. Lin stood and led Mai out of the room so that she could go to her bedroom and not be attacked. Lin also had orders to tell Kim to make sure her uncle made no more visits until they were done.

"Well, Noll…you're really proving your whole 'I-really-don't-care-about-Mai' theory away." Madoka said and Naru sent her a look that clearly told her to shut up about the current topic. "Alright, alright! Quit giving me the death glare, I get the point. But to the next real question…have you decided who we should trust? We can't go into this thing blind!"

"As much as I hate depending on other people or trusting them for that matter, I know that I won't trust someone who decides that my assistant," Madoka coughed loudly. "Alright, _Mai_ would make a good afternoon snack. I suppose that in conclusion we need to depend on Madeline. Whenever she decides to reappear."

"I guess you can't wait for that, huh? You'll get to kiss Mai again!" Madoka leaped off the couch and ran for everything she was worth before Naru could kill her.


	7. Interlude: Naru’s Reaction to Mai…or Mad

Okay, this is going to be the only AN for the next 2 chapters. Things might get a little slow as it's summer vacation and I get extremely lazy. But I will be updating, just not at the normal pace. So Enjoy!

* * *

Interlude- Naru's Reaction to Mai…or Madeline?

Naru was still fuming over what Madoka had said about Madeline. How did she know that Madeline had kissed him? Had she been spying on them? He felt a growl start in his chest and as there was no one around he let it out. He rested his head on the table that the computer was on. There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to kill Madoka the next time he had her alone.

He heard the door open and he looked up and saw that Mai had entered the room with a trey of tea and he almost sighed in relief. The girl must be able to read minds and since she was alone he would guess that Jonathon was gone. He couldn't believe that the man had been ready to feed on her while he was standing there! When he had seen the fangs he had been ready to punch the man to kingdom come. Mai was _not_ werewolf food!

"Madoka said that you might need some tea. I made it the best I could but it isn't the same brew. Madoka's going to take me into London to see if we can find more information." Mai informed him and Naru knew why Madoka was leaving. And it wasn't because she wanted to find more information on the house. She knew if he got her in a room alone that she was a dead woman.

"Fine." he said. 'Just stay away from Jonathon or I will commit murder.' he thought angrily. Mai shrugged before she left the library. Naru took the cup in his hands and glowered down at the liquid in his cup. He was still smarting from what Madoka had said. He couldn't believe that woman! What right did she have to spy on him? He was up and ready to throttle her before he forced himself to stop. What was he doing?

Naru had never been so angry in his life and he really didn't understand why. He put his cup down and began to pace the floor. Why was he angry? Was it because Jonathon had almost bitten Mai? In a sense, yes, but he had stopped the werewolf, that threat was gone. Could it be because of what Madeline had said? That had to be it; he was going to kill that woman! When she got back from London, she was dead. She was so dead.

Naru decided that the best thing for him to do was to walk his anger off before he broke something in the library. He stalked up the steps and down the halls before he went back down the stairs and then right back up them. It wasn't helping his anger at all; it just took the edge off before it stopped helping at all. Naru felt like strangling something.

'_You always let your anger control you._' Gene's voice echoed in his head and didn't help Naru's predicament at all. Of course Gene's advice would still ring in his head even though his twin wasn't there! Naru sat down on the steps with his head bent as he tried to gather his thoughts.

He just didn't get it! And for Naru that was a big deal. It meant he wasn't in control. It meant that he had lost the battle and he was just one of the pawns of a game in which he only knew a few of the rules. He was beginning to get frustrated again and he jumped up and began to pace around the main hall angrily. He wondered where Lin was and then realized the man must have taken Madoka and Mai into London.

'This is ridiculous! This should not be bothering me?! Who cares if Madoka saw _Madeline_ kissing me! I felt nothing!' he almost had himself convinced until his brain decided to remind him that _he_ had kissed _Mai_ when she was unconscious in her room. He felt his cheeks flame at the thought and he growled at himself. He _never_ blushed! How could one silly girl make him blush so easily? He refused to admit the answer.

* * *

Naru was woken from his sleep by a soft knocking on his door. He blinked as his eyes adjust to the dark as he gained his bearings. He slipped out of his bed and walked the door and what met his eyes when he opened cause him to step back in slight surprise. Mai was standing there looking curious and when she smiled he knew. He would have killed Madeline if she wasn't already dead and not in Mai's body.

"Madeline, it is the middle of the night. Mai and I both need our rest." he told the girl as she entered the room without his permission. He felt like snarling at her but he held it back. She was a possessed Mai and he couldn't hurt her, she was still Mai and his assistant.

"Do you mean you would rather sleep alone?" she asked and Naru _did_ growl. He had had enough of Madeline trying to get him and Mai together.

"Madeline, whatever you have to say, say it…then get out." he said coldly and the woman laughed at him before she shrugged. She took his hand and before he knew what she was doing she was leading him down the passageway opened by the gargoyle.

"Fine then, spoilsport. There's something that I think I should show you since you decided that you would trust me rather than that stupid werewolf." she giggled and Naru frowned before watching as she pushed the buttons and then they were in what could only be called a laboratory.

"This is the secret hideout of the Lunar family. We were more of scientists than anything else. Jonathon was so disappointed when he found out that we were nothing more than a bunch of crazy scientists." she said and Naru narrowed his eyes.

"Then how did Jonathon live for a hundred years? I saw his fangs." Naru said and Mai shrugged with a smile on her lips.

"I suppose you have to find out that mystery. I am as incapable of cursing someone as you are about telling Mai what you really feel for her." Madeline said and Naru felt his anger flare up and Madeline giggled before she went to the book had landed when Mai had dropped it earlier and threw it at him.

"This was what each of the Lunars wrote in during their lifetime. We kept truthful records of what happened, except for Jonathon. He knew someday that someone would read it and he decided to blacken my name more than he already had. Jonathon is a liar; no werewolf curse has changed that fact." Madeline said and Naru didn't like how she made Mai's face turn into an ugly, angry look.

"I said I would trust you because I won't trust someone that thinks Mai is a snack. But if I find something that tells me that your endangering her as well…" he trailed off and Madeline raised an eyebrow.

"Everything comes with a price, Dr. Oliver Davis. You were the one that said you trusted me…and my possessions do come with a price as do all ghostly possessions. Mai becomes weaker after each one and soon she will enter into a coma and it will be easier to enter into her." Madeline said before Naru had grabbed hold of the collar of Mai's pajama shirt.

"What did you just say?" he hissed. Madeline chuckled before she pried his fingers off her shirt collar.

"You heard me, Dr. Davis. You shouldn't act so surprised and we both that there is no other way for me to speak to you and help you." she said and Naru felt as though someone had dumped a bucket full of ice on him. And it felt rather unpleasant.

'She's right.' was the only thought that pierced through his numb brain. He had never thought of the consequences of Mai always being possessed. The fact that the ghosts drained her energy to do so had never entered his mind until Madeline had told him. He growled and grabbed the woman again.

"Listen to me closely, Madeline. When we get out of here, you _will_ leave Mai alone unless I call you. You will not, under any circumstances, possess her until then. Tell your little ghost friends that goes for them as well. If Mai ends up in a coma because of this you can be sure that your afterlife…will become very _unpleasant_ very _shortly_. Have I made myself clear, Madeline?" he hissed and Madeline suddenly laughed before she pushed Naru away and hauled herself up onto the wooden table and sat there cross legged.

"Crystal clear, Dr. Davis. But your intentions are still as murky as mud water. Are you doing this for Mai or are you doing this because you are afraid of what I could be. What I could make you feel?" she asked and Naru huffed before he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room and down the dark hallways until they were in front of Mai's room.

"Go in there and get out of Mai, _instantly_. Or I will, and can, make you regret it." he hissed before he turned and stalked to his room. The nerve of that damned woman! How dare she try to use Mai to get into his head? He couldn't believe her! First she tells him that her possessions will harm Mai and then she tries to flirt with him afterwards. He had never felt so angry in his entire life. _No one used Mai to get at him_. If they wanted to talk to him…they needed to confront him face to face and preferably with their own face.

* * *

Mai didn't know what she had done but Naru refused to look at her at all. Mai frowned as Naru avoided her fingers when she handed him his cup of tea. She tried to meet his eyes but he refused. She was about to throw her shoe at him again but decided against it when Madoka dragged her out, saying something about wanting to take her shopping. Mai had expected Naru to stop the woman but he had remained silent. And somehow Madoka had convinced Lin to join them.

Naru was still angry from the night before when Madeline had obviously revealed her true nature. The only thing left for her to show was her true intentions. He wasn't sure what they were but he no longer knew if he trusted her anymore. She was after something and he needed to find out what it was.

Naru stood up before he picked his cell phone up and dialed Lin's cell phone number. When the man answered he told them that they had an hour and a half in London and they had to get back so they could get back on the case.

"I'm going to make a guess and say that you've figured things out?" Lin said and Naru sighed. He should have known that Lin would pick up on his odd moods.

"Let's just say that Madeline has been moved back onto our caution list." he replied and he heard Lin chuckle.

"I hope that you've moved Mai onto the 'Protect-at-all-costs' list. We both know that Jonathon wants her. Since Madeline was telling the truth about possessions she obviously wants Mai as well." Lin pointed out and Naru sighed, the man was always the voice of reason when Naru lost his way.

"I know, Lin. I know." he replied. Even though he didn't want to admit it…Mai had always been on his 'protect-at-all-costs' list. And he would protect her with everything he could, even if it meant he had to go back to the hospital. He had a feeling that he would be soon. After all, Mai required a lot of protection.


	8. The Significance of Dreams

Chapter 7- The Significance of Dreams

"I understand why you don't wish for me to be there, Dr. Davis. I try to control myself around humans but I have trouble when someone smells like my first wife, like Ms. Taniyama does." Jonathon Lunar's voice was on the speaker phone that Kim had bought on their outing they had hooked it up in the library so that everyone could hear Jonathon's version of what happened.

"It's alright, sir." Mai chirped from where she stood behind Naru. For some reason he wouldn't let her near the phone. She was suspicious that he thought if he let her near the phone that Jonathon would jump through it and attack her. Mai was convinced that something had changed the man's attitude and yet he still acted like her favorite narcissist.

"Mr. Lunar, we need to hear your side of the story. Madeline has already made sure we know her side…but as we trust neither of you…we need both stories for our files." Naru told the man on the phone as he flipped through the file and Mai watched him even though the only thing that gave away that he knew she was watching was the slight stiffening of his shoulders.

"Well I don't trust myself, Dr. Davis. I'm a werewolf…a beast that can't control its instincts. I did not chose for this to be my life…I want you to know that before we start this interview." Jonathon said and Mai felt her coldness towards the man melt slightly. He was a human, a werewolf yes, but a human nonetheless.

"I understand, Mr. Lunar. Please start with what happened that caused you to become a werewolf and go on through the present." Naru instructed and Mai heard the older man sigh through the phone.

"The Lunars are a very prestigious family, Dr. Davis. My father was not one that would have upheld that title. He, in all honesty, was a crook. A common thief that was taking away from the poor so that he could still live in comfort during the war. He was an utter idiot.

"I'll admit that I poisoned him but it was _not_ because I was jealous of Madeline and what she would inherit. I loved my little sister, even though I had seen her so deeply interested in the dark arts. I was more worried about her than anything else and I knew my father had sinister things planned for her. But little did I know that she was already to deeply involved in the Lunar heritage.

"After I had killed our father I started to feel strange…every night I would forget where I had been. One day Madeline confronted me about father's death, her son watching from behind one of the columns, I told her the truth. She said that she already knew and that she had dealt me my punishment. I asked her what she meant and she said that _I_ was the monster that everyone was beginning to report seeing. I should have killed her…but I didn't.

"She pulled a gun on me and said that I was going to die. I fought her for the gun and it went off, the bullet hitting her son. She screamed and turned the gun back on me and I grabbed it from and shot her. I hid the bodies under the floor boards of the attic and waited for her oldest son to come home from 'courting' his fiancé.

"I told him that the army had taken his mother and brother on treason and he had been scared. I told him to tell the orphans to run and then I told him to hide in France and to return only after he had had two children. Thank whatever god there is that he listened to my advice without question. He never got along with his mother well.

"I lived on aliases for years until I heard that my great-great-grand niece had been orphaned. I did research and found that her real Uncle Jake had died at ten in a car crash. I became him, met Rena and married her. I adopted little Kim and I took up the role of the leader of Lunar family. Things would have gone well…except Madeline wasn't as dead as I had hoped! That damned witch has made life for me a living hell and now she's involved my wife and niece in this game." Jonathon's voice started to turn into a growl and Mai knew that he was letting his anger control him.

"Calm down, Mr. Lunar. If you're telling the truth then the evidence we find will support it. But if you're lying to us…" Mai trailed off and she heard the man laugh.

"Ms. Taniyama…I have nothing to gain by lying. I'm over a hundred years old. I'm a monster…it doesn't matter if you think I'm a liar or not…I certainly can't make you trust me and I have no desire to force you to trust me. But if you do decide to trust me…well then I can tell you the secrets that I know Madeline won't tell you." Jonathon said and Mai felt that she could believe him.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Lunar. We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us." Naru said before they hung up. He closed his folder with a snap before looking up at the others that were standing around him.

"It seems as though that this is more than the brother and sister that don't get along." Madoka stated dryly and Mai looked at her with raised eyebrows before everything went fuzzy and she shook her head to try and clear her vision. She felt her breath shorten before she began to fall and she expected to hit the floor but something warm caught her and she curled in towards it as her whole body was beginning to grow cold.

"MAI!" was the last thing she heard and if she hadn't known better she would have thought that it was Naru that had called her name.

* * *

Mai looked around as she found herself standing in the Main Hallway once again. But it looked different. It looked, and felt, sinister and angry almost like the walls wanted her gone. She looked around wanting some sort of comfort and yet finding none. She was getting scared that something was going to happen and she felt very ill-prepared.

"Mai?!" Mai was whirled around by firm hands and she gasped as Naru, her dream Naru, was glaring down at her for some reason that she couldn't comprehend as he never glared at her in her dreams.

"What are you doing here? It's to dangerous! I don't know what's happening but whatever is behind this…mischief is trying to get rid of you and if you are here you're only making it easier!" he snapped at her and Mai could feel the tears in her eyes. Why was he yelling at her of all people? She hadn't done anything. She felt Naru's hands loosen slightly when he saw her tears.

"Mai-chan…don't cry. I know I'm being harsh but I don't want to see you die. Do you understand that?" he whispered and Mai looked up and she nodded before managing to give him a watery smile.

"I understand. I'd love to wake-up but I've been trying to ever since I got here and it isn't working. I'm afraid…I'm afraid this might be permanent." she whispered before gasping as Naru gently grasped her chin between his fingers.

"Then we'll have to try a new method." he whispered before he caught her lips with his and Mai felt her eyes widen before they slipped closed and the last thing that she felt were the soft lips that belonged to Naru.

* * *

"Mai! Mai, wake up! Mai!" Naru and the others had been attempting to wake the girl up for the past twenty minutes. And she wasn't responding to anyone, no matter how hard they shook her she was like a rag doll trapped in their hands. Naru could feel his heart slowly stop beating. What was wrong with her? He had felt her grow cold in his arms as he held her. He didn't want to lose her and he had no time to think over the reason he wanted her to live. He could question himself later; his utmost priority was to make sure Mai did live.

"Her pulse is strong, it's like she's sleeping. But she's as cold as ice." Madoka said as she once again felt the teenager's forehead. Naru frowned in anger. If Madeline was the one that was causing Mai to behave so strangely he was going to find out the most painful way to exorcise a ghost from it's house and use it on her.

"N…Naru…." everyone's eyes widened as Mai murmured his name. Naru found himself kneeling on the floor by the couch watching Mai's face with bated breath. When she made no movement he reached out and in a moment of un-Naru like behavior he gently stroked her forehead.

"I'm here, Mai. Wake up…_wake up for me._" he finished in Japanese. Mai's eyelids fluttered and Naru felt his heart stop as they slowly lifted and her hazy eyes looked at him before she gave a small smile.

"_Ne, Naru? It seems I'm the one that'll be in the hospital by the end._" she replied and Naru shook his head, he was just glad to see her awake.

"_Let's prevent that at all costs. Did you have one of your dreams?_" he asked and she nodded before frowning and he watched as she put her hand to her head and rubbing it almost like she had a headache. And Naru couldn't blame if she did. He wasn't even the one that kept fainting and _he_ was getting a headache.

"_No. It was sinister…but I didn't get to see much before everything just went black._" she whispered and Naru nodded before standing up and turning to look at Madoka who gave him a kind smile.

"Go on, I'll watch over Mai." she said and Naru nodded before he and Lin left. Madoka sat down in one of the chairs and gently reached over and placed her hand on Mai's forehead and she watched as the girl looked up at the ceiling and Madoka could tell that she was thinking about something.

"Madoka…do you ever dream?" Mai asked softly and Madoka was slightly surprised at the soft interruption of the silence. She had almost believed that Mai had gone back to sleep. She could still remember how Naru had been frantic as he hovered over Mai, trying to get her to wake up. Madoka had noticed how Naru's face was paler than normal and that his breathing was hitched. She hadn't mentioned how he seemed to be worried. She figured that he was beginning to realize the truth himself.

"Yes, I do. Everyone dreams, Mai." Madoka said and Mai gave a small smile before she sat up slowly and turned to look at the woman.

"Then why me? Why do I have those dreams?" Mai whispered and Madoka couldn't help but chuckle at the question because it was the exact thing that she had expected Mai to ask.

"Because…as much as Noll won't admit it…he needs your help." Madoka told the girl and Mai frowned before she looked down at the floor and she didn't notice how she reached up and began to twist her hair. She didn't think Madoka was telling the truth. There was no way that Naru needed her help! Naru didn't need help.

"That isn't true. Naru doesn't need anybody's help except maybe Lin's. He doesn't want my help. The only reason he hired me was because he needed someone to do his filing." Mai said and Madoka felt like screaming. The two teenagers were the most stubborn people she had met in her twenty-eight years!

"I know for a fact that isn't the reason! Do you know how many times Lin called me to try and talk some sense into that boy. Apparently Noll…was being difficult. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong until about four days after Lin's last call and he told me that Noll had hired the high school girl that had helped them at an old case." Madoka said and Mai looked up with her hair still twisted around her finger.

"What do you mean? Noll just hired me to file." Mai insisted and Madoka shook her head.

"You can keep telling yourself that if you want but we both know that isn't the truth. So why are you trying to convince yourself otherwise?" Madoka demanded and Mai looked up slightly shocked before she felt her face flame as she looked down at the floor.

"Because…everything else I've thought about…the shows of kindness…it just seems like it would be nothing more than a fantasy to expect anything else from him." Mai whispered and Madoka saw that Mai was afraid of being hurt. She could understand. Naru didn't exactly give off the 'I'm-ready-for-romance' vibe. Naru was more of a hermit crab that had to be forced out of his shell just to talk to someone.

"I guess I still have my dreams though. Even if that's the only place that he smiles at me." Mai whispered and Madoka looked at her startled. Everything suddenly made perfect sense.

"You dream about Noll?" Madoka's question caused Mai's head to jerk upwards and her whole face was red. Madoka was almost certain that she could compare it to a tomato and Mai's face would be the redder of the two. Madoka hid her smile behind her hand as she truly tried to not smile in victory.

"Uh….well…sort of." she whispered and she gulped at the look that Madoka was giving her and she knew that the older woman wanted more of an explanation. "When…when I first met Naru I thought he was so stuck up. Then I…I got knocked unconscious and I dreamed Naru was there taking care of me and he gave me…he gave the most terrific smile that I had ever seen.

"The next day that I saw Naru I could barely look at him without my face flaming. I…had fallen hard for Naru and he didn't care. I mean…why would he care about a high school student that had caused his assistant to break his leg?" Mai whispered and she leaned into Madoka as the woman relocated next to her and wrapped her arm around the girl.

"Noll changed drastically after Gene's death. Believe it or not…when they were children they were always playing and laughing…when they weren't studying that is. I think they liked studying more than they did playing outside. They were very intelligent. But Noll changed completely when he informed us that Gene had been killed and afterwards he demanded to go to Japan to find his brother's body. His parents agreed as long as Lin accompanied him." Madoka said and Mai sighed.

"Even if Naru did call me because he wanted to be near me…it won't be anything more than a friendship between us. I'm not his type." Mai whispered and Madoka could feel her hands twitch as she resisted the urge to strangle the young girl. Here she, Madoka, was trying to drop all these hints that Naru _loved _Mai and the younger girl wouldn't take the stupid bait!

"Mai, how do you dream him as?" Madoka demanded and Mai looked startled before a light blush dusted her cheeks and she gave a soft smile to no one in particular.

"He's kind and sweet. He always has a smile for me and he's always got answers. He…sometimes he hold my hand…and even though we're working…it _feels_ as though he cares for me more than just an assistant." Mai said and Madoka gave a smile before suddenly Mai looked up at her interestedly.

"What do you dream about?" Masked and Madoka blinked before shaking her head.

"Not things that you dream about. My dreams are just dreams, Mai. Your dreams help us solve cases and find out what's wrong. That's part of the power that you possess and the power that you possess is very raw and just waiting to be found. Mai, you are a very strong girl and Noll sees that." Madoka tried once more.

"If he believed I was so great…then why doesn't he treat me like I'm a human being?" Mai whispered and Madoka felt her heart drop at the hurt look that was on her face. Mai had obviously thought about her relationship with Naru a lot. And had come up with conclusions that Madoka could see had hurt her badly.

"Mai, who else does he treat like that? As far as I can tell…he doesn't tease anyone else except you." Madoka said and Mai smiled before she stood up and left the kitchen and looked around. She began to ascend the steps before stopping as she heard the secret door scraping open. She ran towards it and stopped as Lin dragged something, or more specifically some_one_, out.

"NARU!!!" Mai screamed when as she watched Lin put the unconscious man on the floor. He looked at Mai and told her he was going to go call an ambulance before leaving her alone with Naru. The teenage girl ran to him.

"Naru! Wake-up! NARU!!" Mai screamed before she put her head on her chest and let everything she had been holding back out.


	9. The Reason Why

Okay...I'm just going to let this chapter speak for itself. RR! And thanks to all my reviewers, I love you! You know how to make a writer feel good about themself. Arigato!

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Chapter 8- The Reason Why

Mai stood at ICU window with her arms crossed around her waist as she watched Naru through the class. Tears would occasionally role down her cheeks as she watched doctors enter and exit. She had long gone numb from shock; the only real thing on her mind was if Naru was going to make it through this attack. She could feel tears clogging her throat and she couldn't swallow back the strangled sob that escaped her throat.

She continued to watch through the window before one of the doctors waved her in. She sat by his bedside and watched as he laid there. She had never felt so relieved to see that he didn't have a breathing mask on. She reached out and touched his hand and she felt the tears come back full force and she bent her head. She felt tears slowly rolling down her cheeks and she tried her best to hold them back and failed terribly.

"Mai?" she looked up and saw Madoka standing there with a smile on her face. Mai wondered how the woman could feel like smiling. It was the last thing that Mai felt like doing. Madoka went over and put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and Mai looked at Naru.

"He always did this when he was younger. I can remember having to drag Gene away from Noll's bedside because he always refused to leave his brother. Gene was very protective of Noll…they were unusual siblings." Madoka said with a fond smile and Mai looked up.

"What do you mean? How were they unusual?" Mai asked once curiosity wouldn't leave her alone.

"They never argued. They always got along. I have two brothers myself and they rarely got along. Noll and Gene argued once. It was over Gene going to Japan. Gene wanted to go and Noll didn't want him to go…I think Noll had a premonition or some sort of feeling that Gene wasn't going to come back from his trip. He was right." Madoka told her and Mai released Naru's hand and stood up.

"I need fresh air." Mai whispered before she walked out of the hospital room and out into the night air. She studied the buildings that surrounded the London hospital that Naru had been admitted to. His parents had visited and had left to get clothes so that they could spend the night. Mai felt as though she were in the way and was beginning to question if she even belonged in Naru's line of work. She took a deep breath before she started walking down the streets.

'I don't belong here. This is Naru's home…not mine.' she thought as she stopped in front of the apartment building that she had been heading for. She sighed before entering and asking for the apartment number of the person she was going to visit in the tall building.

She reached the apartment, 13b, and knocked. She waited wondering if her theory would even play out. She was about to leave when the door opened to reveal Jonathon Lunar in his business suit. She saw his eyes widen at the sight of her and she took a deep breath.

"I need answers, Mr. Lunar. And I need them now." she said and he tilted his head slightly before stepping back and letting her into the apartment. She waited and sat down when he motioned for her to.

"I heard that Dr. Davis collapsed. I'm sorry about it." he told her. Mai just nodded. She was still numb from having seen Naru in the hospital again. She decided that she was going to ask for overtime when he left this time. She had had enough of sitting in hospitals.

"Mr. Lunar, I need to know everything about the curse that Madeline placed on you. I know that if it was me that I would try to find everything I could out. I have no idea what's going on at that house and the only way that we are going to be able to find out and stop Madeline is if you tell me the whole story." Mai whispered and Jonathon smiled as he sat down on the loveseat across from the couch.

"Alright, Ms. Taniyama. I told you most of the story over the phone. But I did do research as time went by. I found out that the only way to break the curse was to rid the earth of the person that cast the curse. I didn't understand why the curse hadn't been broken because Madeline was dead. I understood rather quickly when I found out she was haunting our homestead.

"I didn't know what to do. I started to travel a lot to get away from her. I figured that she wouldn't harm Rena and Kim; they hadn't done anything to her. But Rena was curious and she explored. Undoubtedly when Madeline caught her she placed that same damned curse on my wife.

"Madeline was…not any better. She was a wonderful person and then when she turned ten…she changed. And not for the better. She started reading books with black magic, even for that time period it was not meant for children or any other human to read those kinds of books.

"I was scared for her. I was fourteen at the time and she was all that I had since our mother died shortly after she was born. She was raised by maids since I was busy with my studies and my father…well you know my opinion on him. Madeline…took a different approach than I did with regards to our father. She tried every trick she knew to get him to tell her the family secret.

"To this day I don't think anyone knows the secret of the Lunar family. Not even I know. I've been alive for nearly a hundred years and I no longer have the desire to know the secret. I just stopped caring." he told her and Mai blinked.

"Are you saying that to break the curse we have to exorcise Madeline?" she whispered and Jonathon closed his eyes and stayed that way without answering Mai for awhile. Mai was beginning to wonder if he was even going to answer.

"If I answered that…wouldn't I be doing your job for you?" he asked and Mai smiled before she stood up and bid him farewell before leaving. She walked back towards the hospital and found Madoka outside looking for her.

"There you are! Mr. and Mrs. Davis are with Noll and he woke up about five to ten minutes ago. You want to go see him before we leave?" Madoka asked and Mai felt her heart accelerate slightly in relief at the fact that Naru was alright.

"I think I'll let them have their family moment. It's not my place to be there." Mai whispered before she followed Madoka to the car and she watched the scenery go by as Madoka drove the road towards Kim's house.

* * *

Mai poked her head out the door before she stepped out and flipped her flashlight on. She made her way down to the library and carefully opened the secret passageway door. She slowly down the passageway until she reached the door. She took a deep breath before going over and tugging on the handle of the door. She was surprised when the steps didn't appear but instead the door opened.

She stepped into the room and gasped as suddenly the room lit up. She clicked the flashlight off and looked around the room that resembled a bedroom. It had a small bed that looked as though it hadn't been slept in for years and then there was a small desk. Mai saw a diary on the desk and she went over and picked it up. She flipped through it and saw that the pages were all yellowed and the handwriting was messy.

"This looks as though it was written by a child. This must have been Madeline's diary when she was a child." Mai whispered as she read through the things that the woman had wrote down. Mai quickly realized that most of the entries were spells and potions. She sat down on the bed as she realized that Jonathon was the one trust. He had been telling the truth.

She put the book back before she saw that there was a bookshelf in the room and she wondered how she hadn't seen it earlier. She went over and studied the books and frowned as she realized that they were in a language that she couldn't read. She had a vague feeling that she knew what it was. She took the largest book with the unknown writing and made her way back up to the library and blinked as she saw Madoka and Lin sitting together on the couch. She cleared her throat and Lin's head jerked up when he heard her.

She saw that Madoka's eyes were closed and that her head was resting against Lin's shoulder. Mai shot a look at the Chinese man and saw that he was refusing to look at her. She also saw that his cheeks were slightly red. Mai went over and put her loot on the desk and she looked over at Lin and motioned him over. She watched as he gently laid Madoka down on the couch fully before going over to Mai.

"I'm not exactly sure what language this but I thought it looked familiar and then I realized that I had seen it before when I take tea to you in your office. I thought maybe you knew what it said." she told him and Lin frowned slightly before sighing.

"This is Chinese…but it's a very old version and some of the characters are faded. It'll take time, where did you find this?" he asked and she told him how she went down the passageway and the she asked him how she didn't see him and Madoka and she saw that his cheeks had turned red again and she couldn't help but giggle even though he was glaring at her.

"If you must know, Noll called Madoka and told us to stay in the library to make sure you didn't go down the passageway and get hurt. Apparently you beat us down here." he told her and Mai felt her anger flare.

"He's one to talk! He's in the hospital in ICU. I should call him and give him a piece of my mind." Mai kept her voice down so that she wouldn't wake Madoka but Lin could see the anger in her eyes.

"Mai, he's worried about you. God help me, he's going to kill me when he finds out I told you that. I've never seen him so angry when he told us that Jonathon tried to bite you. If you didn't notice, his fingers tremble when something endangers you." Lin told her and Mai blinked. Since when had Lin tried to help Mai read Naru?

"Why would Naru be worried about me? I can take care of myself!" Mai said in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. She could feel her cheeks flaming and she looked up when she felt Lin's hand on her shoulder.

"Because Noll's lost someone he cares about already. Truth be told…I don't think he could stand to lose you. He may act cold, and he may be cold, but he does have a heart." Lin told her and suddenly Mai understood and it made her heart clench in pain.

"I see. I'm Gene's replacement, aren't I? That's what all the yelling has been about. He wants to prove to his parents that he could have saved Gene. I get it." she whispered. "Tell me when you think you've got that translated." she ran out of the library and Lin sighed.

"That didn't go well." Madoka commented and Lin turned around to look at her before he rejoined her on the couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder and she felt him sigh.

"He deserved it. He wasn't going to do anything and I know it sounds cruel but he needs to grow up and start treating her well." Madoka looked at Lin with shocked eyes before she giggled.

"I thought you didn't like the Japanese." she told him and he gave her that look that she recognized from when they had been teenagers. "Maybe Mai has grown on you. She seems to infect everyone with her cheerfulness. Even Noll isn't resistant." the woman went on and Lin didn't answer. She gave a small smile before she closed her eyes and fell asleep on him once again.

* * *

Mai was still awake at five am. She couldn't go to sleep and she had a rather nasty idea why. She still couldn't believe that all the worry that she had thought Naru had for her was misplaced! She had thought that he actually cared about _her_ and not some illusion of what could've been if he had gone to Japan with Gene. She was beginning to wonder if he ever saw her for herself.

Mai rolled over onto her side and watched the rain outside the window, her light was illuminating it as it hit the pane. She closed her eyes and felt her heart thumping painfully against her ribs. Maybe she was never meant to fall in love and this was what it took to keep her from ever falling in love. But she knew it was already too late. She had fallen hard for Naru and she knew there was no way she would ever not love the man. Even though he was a jerk.

'Naru…why couldn't you just like me for me?' she thought before she fell asleep and she was thankful that for once she didn't dream of the man with blue eyes and a kind smile.

* * *

"You've been working on that book for the past six hours! Are you having no luck?" Madoka asked and Lin rubbed his temples as the woman put a cup of tea on the desk beside the book.

"These characters are very faded. All I've been able to make out so far is that this book has been in the family for a very long time and that it has been used a lot. Besides that I haven't been able to find anything else out. This is really putting my knowledge of the Chinese language to the test.

"How's Mai?" he asked uncharacteristically and Madoka sighed before she pulled a chair up beside Lin's and crossed her arms on the desk.

"I wouldn't know. She locked her door and refused to come out. I think out of all the things that Naru has done this hurt her the most and the really stupid thing is…he doesn't even realize that he's been doing that." Madoka said softly and Lin nodded as he once again went back to the book and forcing himself to not blush when Madoka wrapped her arms around his.

"Hang on a minute." he said nearly an hour later. Madoka blinked her eyes open as she had fallen asleep. She looked at Lin in curiosity and the man placed his hand on the book before the looking at Madoka.

"I know what the Lunar secret is. Go find Mai." he told the woman and Madoka blinked before she did as she was told. Five minutes later Madoka and Mai entered the room and he looked up before sighing.

"It seems that in 1583, one of the Lunars was an explorer and found himself in China. From what I can read he found this book…a book of witchcraft. The man that traded for this book wrote in the back that the book is actually worth millions of dollars because this is the only copy of this book. All books from this time era in China are rare as few survived the invasions of China." he told them and the two girls looked at him surprised before exchanging glances.

"That can't be the only reason that Madeline is protecting the house so fiercely. I…there has to be something that we're missing." Mai whispered and Madoka looked at Lin who nodded.

"Mai, I know this is probably the last thing you want to do…but we need Noll's input and he isn't allowed to leave the hospital for another twenty-four hours." Madoka said and she saw Mai's eyes widen and the girl shook her head before Madoka gently placed her hands on Mai's shoulders.

"Mai, I know what Noll did is wrong but he's the boss and if he can give some sort of insight." Madoka said and Mai finally agreed.

* * *

Mai followed Madoka into the hospital room and Madoka winked at her before going through the routine questions, asking how he was. He, of course, gave very limited answers as he was busy reading a book. Madoka shot Mai a look before saying she was going to talk to Naru's parents in the cafeteria. Mai watched helplessly as her lifeline walked out the door leaving her in the room with a man in a hospital bed reading.

'Might as well get this over with.' she thought. "Naru, we think we have a really good lead to what Madeline might be hiding thanks to Jonathon." Mai said brightly and she saw Naru's eyes glance up and she saw that he had put his book in his lap. She knew that she had his attention.

"Really? Did Lin call him?" he asked and Mai shook her head before twisting her hands.

"No…when you were being checked by the doctors I looked his address up and when your parents got here I had to get away. I was going to take Madoka with me but…my feet just sort of led me, though I'm not exactly sure how I knew which way to go." she said as she realized that she really didn't have any idea how she got to the apartment building without getting lost. She decided maybe it has something to do with the 'powers' Madoka had told her she had.

"You went to his house? Alone?" Naru questioned and Mai, who couldn't detect mood changes in her boss very often, didn't notice the cold tone that had crept into his already cool voice.

"Well, yeah. I mean we were getting nowhere fast-" she was interrupted.

"Dammit, Mai! What the hell were you thinking? Or were you thinking at all? He's a werewolf or did you forget that he tried to bite you?" his voice was as cold as steel and Mai could feel tears begin to prick the back of her eyes. Naru always got agitated at her but he'd never yelled at her before.

"I was just trying to help." she whispered as she looked down at her sneakers and tried to blink the tears back that were threatening to spill. How come Naru was the only man that could make her cry? She had never cried before when she had boyfriends and they had broken up, okay so there hadn't been many but still!

"By doing what? Putting your neck on the line? Do you have a death wish, Mai? Is that why you're doing all this?" he snapped and Mai's head snapped up, she didn't care if she _did _have tears on her face.

"Doing what?! Helping a friend? Then, yes! And why did you follow me? Because you want to use me as a replacement and prove that if you had been with Gene he wouldn't have died?! Well, you know what, _Dr. Davis_? You should have just let me die! You haven't given a rat's tail about me since I started working for you!" Mai snapped back before she turned and fled the room and past Madoka who was standing in the doorway.

"You know, Noll…I knew you weren't very good with people. And I just don't get it. I really don't get it. You have the best thing going for you with her and you broke it. You broke her." Madoka told him and he looked at her with cold eyes.

"You wouldn't understand." he told her before he closed his book, he no longer felt like reading. For some odd reason he didn't feel like doing anything.

"Understand what? That the one girl that everyone thought could melt you just ran out in tears? The one girl that wouldn't let you turn her away has finally given up on you? Or how about the girl who's heart you just ripped to shreds?" Madoka finally growled. She was at the end of her patience rope.

"No, the reason that I'm in this damn hospital bed. The reason I have to stay here for another day is because I used everything I had to keep Madeline from possessing Mai again and killing her." he said and Madoka shook her head.

"Noll, as much as I wish I could congratulate you on that task I can't. You don't get it. Maybe Mai did go to Jonathon's and maybe Madeline is endangering her life…but none of that compares what you did to her. You used her as…a surrogate of some sort and after everything she's had to go through with you she's finally broken. Congratulations, Noll. You finally did it." Madoka said before she turned on her heel and left.


	10. Disappearance Pt 1

Okay, here we go. Two chapters in one day, didn't think I could do it. Now, I'm going to apologize right now. You'll understand later. And review, I'd love to hear what you think is going to happen because I'll tell you a secret. I'm not really sure where it's going either! Adios!

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Chapter 9- Disappearance Pt. 1

"Mai, come on! You have visitors!" Kim's voice echoed through Mai's bedroom door. Mai sat up and wiped at her tears before she climbed off the bed and opened the door. She saw the worried look that Kim had on her face before the English girl gave her a bright smile.

"I think that your visitors will cheer you up." she said cheerfully and Mai let herself be dragged to the steps before stopping as she heard rather loud voices coming from the main hallway.

"_Who are you calling old? I'm going to kill you!_" Mai looked at Kim with an astonished look before she rounded the corner and stopped at the top of the stairs and a smile split across her face as her tears were forgotten.

"_Aren't you a little old to be carrying that suitcase?_" Takigawa quipped and Mai giggled as Ayako attempted to strangle the man.

"_Bou-san! Miko-san!_" she screamed as she tackled Takigawa and the man squawked as he tried to keep his balance and he saw the look that Ayako gave him before she found herself being hugged by the girl.

"_What are you doing here?! How come you didn't call?!_" Mai cried after she had let the priestess go. Takigawa chuckled at the girl before he shrugged and Mai looked at Ayako who smiled.

"_Let's just say that we got word that Naru was being an ass and that you needed a cheering section. Apparently Bou-san's uncle works at Tokyo International and he got us tickets. We called Kim and told her it was going to be a surprise._" Ayako explained Takigawa chuckled.

"She can understand English, Ayako." he told the priestess and the woman glared at him and Mai blinked in surprise.

"Since when can you speak English?" she demanded and the adults looked at her surprised and she had a sneaking suspicion that they had forgot she was even there. They always got so caught up in their arguments.

"When we were in school they taught you English from your first year in school to the last year of college." Ayako said and Mai laughed before she gave them a bright smile.

"Thank you for coming! I'm already feeling better!" she said and the adults shared a look before Ayako tilted her head slightly to the library door and Takigawa nodded before he disappeared into the library leaving the two women in the main hall.

"Okay, Madoka wouldn't tell me what was wrong other than Naru was being unreasonable." Ayako said and she saw that Mai's expression had turned sad at the mention of Naru's name. Ayako sighed before she wrapped an arm around the younger girl's shoulder like a mother would.

"He…he doesn't see me as me. The only reason that he hired me was to prove to his parents that he could have protected his brother." Mai looked up at Ayako and the woman nodded to indicate she knew Naru's secret.

"Takigawa threw a fit when he found out the man he had been envisioning was none other that our dear, sweet narcissistic boss." Ayako said and Mai couldn't stop the smile that was forming on her lips at the thought of Takigawa's reaction. She wished that she had been there to see it.

"Poor Takigawa. Did Madoka tell you everything that's being going on?" Mai asked and Ayako nodded.

"Yes, that's why I'm going to be sleeping in your room. She said that Madeline has a habit of possessing you and that she wants someone with you that can exorcise it if it happens again." Ayako told her and Mai shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I can't remember anything during Madeline's possession spells. I just hope when she possesses me she doesn't do stupid things." Mai said and Ayako almost laughed but restrained from doing so.

'Mai obviously doesn't know that she's been kissing Naru! I suppose right now she would probably kill the man if she found out.' Ayako thought. Madoka had explained what the ghost woman had been doing and they all finally had realized that Madeline was trying to use Mai as a surrogate for her powers.

* * *

"There's nothing else in this book to suggest what the family secret is. I've translated all that I could read, which wasn't much to begin with as most of it was faded." Lin said as he put the translated pages into the case file. Madoka let her head thump against the desk. Lin looked over his shoulder and blinked. Madoka hadn't done something like that since she was sixteen.

"We are getting nowhere fast. And thanks to Noll our dear Mai has locked herself up in her room sobbing, thank god that Bou-san and Miko-san agreed to come to England." Madoka lifted her head and she and Lin both smiled.

"Gene was always the voice of reason when it came to Noll. We both know that." Lin said and Madoka nodded. She twisted a piece of hair around her finger and watched as the hair stretched around her finger.

"Well, Noll doesn't have that voice anymore. But everyone knows that he needs it. Maybe if he had it we wouldn't be dealing with a heartbroken girl. I hate seeing her like that Lin. She doesn't deserve that pain." Madoka looked at the man and he sighed before going over and wrapping his arms around her from behind as he stood and she remained sitting.

"Madoka, what Noll does is Noll's business. And if he can't treat even Mai right then we both know that he doesn't deserve to be with her. Now Luella and Martin are bringing him here after he gets a clean bill of health from the doctor. And everyone has to be _civil_." he emphasized the last word and Madoka huffed angrily before nodding in agreement.

"Hello!" the two adults jumped apart as Takigawa entered the library with gust and Lin blinked before going to his laptop and sitting down. Madoka stood up and greeted the monk.

"Hello, Bou-san. How was your flight?" she asked and they talked for several minutes about the trip before the monk frowned and Madoka knew what was coming before he even spoke.

"What did he do this time? I don't care if he is Davis. I'm about ready to kill the twerp. I have had enough of wiping her tears away that _he_ causes her to shed." the monk growled and Madoka nodded in agreement. The only answer that Lin gave was the soft clicking of his key board as he typed.

"I know…it's just him being him normal self. Mai finally realized that the only reason, as far as we can tell, that Noll came to England was to prove to his parents that he could've protected his older brother. I'm getting sick of saying it.

"He doesn't get that he's smothering Mai…I listened to the argument that they had in the hospital. She told him that he should've let her die. I…I really think that he has broken her, Bou-san. He doesn't get the seriousness of his actions." Madoka said and the monk shook his head.

"Hi!" Ayako entered the library and everyone looked at her and she smiled. "Mai was getting tired; the girl hasn't slept for two nights. I sent her to bed with some tea that'll help her rest even if this whole problem won't let her. I should strangle that damn man!"

"Then the rest of your life would be in jail." Takigawa pointed out and Ayako sighed.

"He's not worth it." she agreed.

* * *

The car ride was silent. Not that it bothered Naru. It gave him time to think. Especially about Mai and their argument. As much as he didn't want to admit, to himself or anyone else for that matter, her tears had bothered him. When she had looked at him he had know those eyes weren't the fiery eyes that he enjoyed looking into during their spats. They were dulled by what could be called pain and the fact that they were glistening with tears hadn't helped his conscience.

'_You used her as…a surrogate of some sort and after everything she's had to go through with you she's finally broken._' Madoka's voice echoed in his head and Naru let out a sigh. He rubbed his temples as a headache began to form. He no longer knew the truth as to why he had come to England. At first he thought it had been to prove something, maybe to Gene. But when Mai had told him that she went to Jonathon's a rage so hot had formed in his chest that the girl had been lucky that he had an IV in or he would have shaken the daylights out of her.

'She purposely puts herself in danger, why? Does she want an early grave?' Naru asked himself before he let out another sigh.

"Noll, are you alright?" his mother asked as she looked over her shoulder into the back seat. He didn't answer for a moment before he looked up to meet his mother's eyes and saw that she looked worried.

"I'm fine mother. I've been thinking." he said and his mother blinked in interest and waited for him to continue. "I'm going to stay here once I have this case at Lunar Mansion solved."

"What?!" both his parents cried and he was glad that they were at a stop light as both his parents turned to look at him fully.

"Noll, what on earth changed your mind? And what about Mai?" his mother finally managed as his father turned back around when the light turned green.

"What about Mai? She'll be happier if I'm not around. You were the ones that were begging me to stay so I decided to listen. I've been over there for nearly a year and have had no success. I know when I'm defeated." Naru said and Luella shrugged before she turned around.

"I'm glad that you've decided to stay. But you shouldn't abandon Mai." his mother said and Naru kept from growling.

"Mother." he warned softly but Luella didn't say anything else and he turned to look back out the window. 'Madoka was right. This whole time I've treated Mai terrible. She can get a normal job if she wants and if I leave it will only make it easier for her to do so.' he told himself but for some reason his heart didn't like the thought and he put his hand over the area in confusion. 'I have a heart?' he had thought. He knew he had been born with the organ he just thought it was incapable of anything else besides keeping him alive.

'_Idiot scientist, always letting science give you the answers, aren't you?_' Gene's words echoed in his head and Naru shook his head before looking back out the window as he remembered the response he had given.

'_It's the only way to keep from getting hurt_.'

* * *

"Well look who decided it was time to come home from the hospital." Takigawa snickered as Naru walked through the door with his parents. Naru blinked at the appearance of the monk before he sighed and looked at Madoka who shrugged and he had a nasty feeling that she had called the monk in to cheer Mai up. He hoped the man succeeded. He wanted Mai to be happy maybe because he was terrible at making her happy.

"You must be Bou-san. I'm Noll's mother, Luella. Please call me that." the woman introduced and the monk smiled before his hand was being shaken by Naru's father. Naru could only roll his eyes.

"It's nice to meet the both of you. It's been…interesting working with your son." Takigawa said and Naru shot the man a glare and the older man stuck his tongue out when Naru's parents were greeting Madoka and Lin.

"You and I need to have a little talk, young man." Takigawa told him and Naru sighed before shaking his head.

"I'm going to fix it, Bou-san." he told the monk before it could get any further and the monk looked at him, obviously impressed. Naru had the distinct feeling that the man wouldn't be as impressed when he found out Naru's solution was to let Mai get on with her life. A life that did not include a Shibuya Kazuya _or_ an Oliver Davis. Naru had himself convinced that her life would be better off without him. (AN: Would someone please slap that boy? Thank you!)

"Well, we have to go. I was hoping to say hello to Mai." Luella said as she looked around hoping to see the ginger haired girl.

"She was up in her room; I believe Ayako went to get her." Madoka said before everyone looked up as the said priestess came rushing down the stairs with tears in her eyes and a pale face.

"What's wrong, Ayako?" Takigawa asked and the priestess held out a piece of paper to Naru and when the man took it she buried herself against Takigawa's chest. Naru read the paper and he could feel the growl start before it became audible to everyone standing around him.

Noll-

How pleasant to see you, or lack thereof, again. I'm fed up with possessing Mai all the time. So I stopped…but you see since I have been dead for hundred of years I can solidify at will. It's a neat little trick that I had up my sleeve all along. I decided that Mai has really gotten to close to the truth. And if it makes you feel any better, I really am rooting for you to find her body. Unlike you were able to find Gene's.

Madeline

"Madeline…." Naru growled as he crumpled the note in his hands. That _witch_ was not going to get away with this!


	11. Disappearance Pt 2

This is the next to last chapter….this is the longest story that I've posted! I think most of you might be cheering for Gene in this chapter! I love that boy!!!

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Chapter 10- Disappearance Pt. 2

By nature Gene was not a violent person. He did not hit people and he did not fantasize about hitting people. He didn't like to see people in pain and when he had been alive he had even worked at a refuge for battered women, of course he was in the back cooking so they couldn't see him but still. It made him feel good. Gene had never hit anybody in his fifteen years alive. So one would wonder why Gene Davis wanted to throttle his younger brother.

Gene himself couldn't explain it. He leaned back in the darkness and closed his eyes. Not that it made much difference. For him to sleep he didn't need to have his eyes closed. It came naturally. And it was getting closer and closer. He found himself appearing less and less in Mai's dreams.

Gene smiled at the thought of the girl. She made him feel alive again. He wondered at the irony of falling in love after he had been killed. He shuddered slightly as he remembered the feel of the car hitting him. He sighed as his thoughts, and anger, turned back towards his brother.

What was wrong with that boy?! Had he lost every brain cell that he had?! Noll was supposed to be the bright one! He was the one that had got the doctorate at fifteen and had given a speech at the same age!

'He's not a people person.' Gene reminded himself amusedly. He could remember every time that they had been a crowd that Noll would find a corner somewhere and pull a book out from nowhere and begin to read. Gene could never figure out where his brother kept the book. He had asked once and Noll had just stared at him like he was an idiot. Gene had resisted the urge to slap him upside the head. Now he was wishing he had done so when he had the chance.

Gene wished that he was alive so that he could strangle his brother. Noll had nothing to prove to him so why was he trying to do so?! And in the process couldn't he see how much he had hurt Mai? Gene wished more than anything that he could communicate with his brother at the precise moment and let the younger man know exactly what he thought of his treatment of Mai. But then his thoughts turned to Noll's powers and he frowned.

'Oh, no. If he cares for Mai, like I know he does, and she's….like me…oh, lord. He'll lose control of those damn powers.' Gene closed his eyes and focused on trying to find Mai but found a barrier blocking his way and his eyes snapped open. 'Madeline knows about me and how I communicate with Mai…' he thought before putting his hand over his face.

"Naru….someone….help me…." Gene's head snapped up at the sound of Mai's voice. He looked around in the dark expecting to see her and yet praying at the same time that he wouldn't. Because if he did see her in this abyss it would mean one thing. And that was one thing he didn't want. Because he knew what it would do to his brother, as much of an idiot as he was.

'Hurry up, Noll. If I can hear her here she's in serious danger. Hurry up.' Gene prayed silently as he waited in the dark as he continued to try and contact Mai to maybe figure out something that she could do to give Noll a hint to her location.

* * *

"We've searched everywhere." Madoka confirmed as she and Lin were the last ones to reenter the library. Naru had his head bent slightly and Takigawa, of all people, was the one with his hand on the younger man's shoulder in an attempt to calm the young man. Everyone in the room could see what Naru was thinking and no one had the courage to try and deny the fact that he was wrong.

"I believe there might be one place you haven't looked." said a voice and everyone looked at the doorway of the library in surprise. And there stood none other than Jonathon Lunar.

* * *

Gene knew something was wrong when he could see the floor he was sitting on. He looked around as walls appeared and even a ceiling. It wasn't the main hall that Gene was used to being in during one of Mai's dreams. And then he realized that this didn't have the same _feel_ as Mai's dream. That's when he knew something was _terribly_ wrong.

He watched as the outline of a body formed on the ground and he felt his breath catch when finally it revealed to be Mai. He went to her and saw that she looked as though she were asleep. There were dirt smudges on her face and her clothes looked torn as though from a struggle. Gene reached out and touched her forehead praying that she wouldn't respond to his touch. His prayer wasn't answered, her head turned towards the touch but her eyes remained closed.

"Mai?" he whispered and this time she moaned but that was the only response she gave and he sighed. 'She's getting closer to the edge. Hurry, Noll! Hurry!' Gene thought in a panic. The last thing he wanted was to have Mai join him in death.

* * *

"Uncle?" Kim asked as he led them down the steps of the conservatory. The werewolf didn't answer and instead went to a wall that the stones were a slightly different shade than the rest of the stones. Everyone watched as the man kicked the wall and it lowered down into the floor.

"This is where I hid when my father went into one of his moods. There are several doors, I'll stay here with Kim as it would undoubtedly be a bad idea for me to go. I might kill Madeline, again. If that's possible." Jonathon said and the rest of the team ran down the hall with Naru in the lead. They stopped as the passage split into the three different directions. Naru directed the couples down the two he didn't want to go down and then he turned to the one that seemed to be pulling him towards it.

He cast the beam of his flashlight back and forth as he waited for some sort of sign that would help him figure out where Mai was. His heart had stopped beating and he was beginning to question if he was even still alive. He could still remember how Gene would always laugh at him when he said that he thought the heart was nothing more than an organ to keep people alive.

'_She's getting closer to the edge. Hurry, Noll! Hurry!_' Naru's head snapped up. He would know that voice anywhere.

"Gene?" he whispered, wondering if he had finally gone crazy. It wasn't impossible. He had failed Mai and he knew that if she was dead that he would never be able to return to Japan. He wouldn't even be able to look at the damn country without thinking about he had failed yet another person that he lo-cared for. He shook his head as his subconscious tried to use the 'L' word. He did not love Mai!

'_Hurry!_' Gene's voice was urgent and Naru frowned as he picked up on the note of panic in his older brother's voice. That's when it hit him.

"Damn it!" he swore loudly. The only way that Mai would be with Gene would be if she was dead. "MAI!" he screamed. He never screamed but he supposed there was always something to learn about yourself. The silence that followed his outburst was unnerving, even for him.

He heard a small groan and he frowned before he went in the direction that the groan had come from. He found himself at a wooden door. He tried to open it and was unsurprised to find that it was locked. He stepped back and kicked the door in with all his might. He found himself in a round stone room with a dirt floor and lying on that dirt floor was Mai.

"Mai…" he went to her as quick as he could without running. He knelt down beside her and placed his hand on her forehead and he could feel his breathing accelerating when he realized she was barely breathing.

"Mai, wake up!" he reached out and shook her hard but she gave no response. Naru looked up as he heard laughter and he felt a growl form when Madeline appeared before him looking pleased with herself.

"Well, look here. The little boy is trying to save the little girl. To bad that you're late. She's already dying…probably already so close to dead that you can consider her gone. And before you ask how…I'm a witch. I don't have to use a weapon and if you know what's best for you…you'll let her go." Madeline said cheerfully.

* * *

"Naru?" Gene's eyes widened when Mai's eyes snapped open and he shook his head and he saw her look at him confused.

"No…I'm not him. Mai…my name is Gene. I don't have time to explain how I'm your dream guide right now. But you _have_ to wake up, Mai." he told her and Mai blinked and he knew what was coming.

"Why?" she asked, she knew that normally she would have been demanding an explanation but the fear that she saw in Gene's eyes scared her. If he was telling the truth about being in her dreams then she had never seen him look so fearful. What was she missing that was scaring him so much?

"Because, if you stay here…you die, Mai. You have to go back. I love my brother and I don't want to see him get hurt again." he told her and Mai gave a small smile as her eyes began to slip close.

"You really are a good big brother…and nicer." she whispered softly as her eyes closed but before she lost consciousness she felt lips on her forehead.

"I love you, Mai." was the whisper in her ear.

* * *

Naru was losing control. He could feel it. But he had long since stopped caring about the control. He'd failed Mai and now he was losing the tight control that he had over his powers. He could feel the lose stones vibrating around him and underneath him as he held Mai against his chest and he glared at Madeline who seemed to be enjoying herself.

"More powerful than I thought. This must be easier than I thought." the witch cackled and neither noticed how Mai's eyes fluttered open.

'Ow…' Mai thought as her head was pounding. She closed her eyes before opening them again as she heard a loud thud. What she saw made her eyes widen. Stones from the walls around them were flying everywhere! She looked up at Naru's face and what she saw scared her. His eyes were blank and he blinked once in a while and then she realized what was happening. She had to stop him before he killed himself!

"Naru, stop it! Stop!" she whispered but it didn't catch his attention. Mai tried to say it louder but her voice wouldn't work. She felt tears in her eyes as she heard more stones hitting the walls around them. She reached up and touched his cheek and he looked down surprised at the touch.

"Stop." she whispered. He blinked his eyes before shaking his head as dizziness swept over him. She managed to sit up on her knees when Naru finally released her. She put both her hands on his face. 'Come on, Naru. You can regain control. I know you can, please.' she prayed fervently. Finally Naru's eyes closed and he pitched forward and Mai 'eeped' when he landed on her chest.

"And here I thought you were dead." Madeline said angrily and Mai wrapped her arms around Naru as Madeline appeared in front of her.

"I know the secret Madeline. You know if I say it out loud you have to disappear and you also know that you have no choice. Where's Rena?" Mai asked, she wasn't exactly sure where she was getting her bravery, she just knew that she had to stop Madeline before it got anymore out of control.

"She's hunting me. I don't know where she is." the woman growled and Mai closed her eyes for a moment before she gave a small smile.

"The curse will break once you're gone. I know what your family did. The secret that you've held so long in your hearts is the fact that you betrayed the Emperor of China. You helped Japan invade by giving them money and weaponry. I wasn't sure but after doing research on the family I finally put two and two together, Madeline. You may be a witch but even witches can't change the past. You lost…now leave!" Mai whispered and Madeline blinked before a wind began to blow.

Mai held on tightly to the unconscious Naru before burying her head against his shoulder as Madeline's screams echoed through the air as she began to disappear. Mai felt tears in her eyes as she clung even tighter to the man.

"Bitch! I was so close to stopping that secret from coming out!! DAMN YOU!!!" Madeline screamed. Once the wind stopped Mai raised her head and saw the woman was gone and she sighed in relief. It was finally over.

* * *

The sound of an engine caught his attention. He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a runway near a plane. He frowned as he saw Mai boarding the plane. He tried to call out to her but it was no use. The plane turned towards the right runway and began to take off.

"Noll." Naru whirled around and felt his eyes widen. It was as though he were looking in a mirror. For the first time in a long time Naru smiled.

"Gene." he replied and the older boy sighed before going over and putting his hand on Naru's head like he always had before bonking the younger man on the head.

"_That's_ for being an idiot. Now wake up and go after her before I decide it's time that you join me here and I kill you." Gene said affectionately.

* * *

Naru's eyes fluttered open and he was unsurprised to see that he was back in the hospital. What he didn't expect was his mother hovering over him. He saw her eyes light up before she turned around and spoke to his father who he realized was sitting beside him.

"He's up! Give him the surprise!" Naru pushed himself up before a key ring and plane ticket fell in his lap. He looked up at his father before the man smiled at him.

"That's a ticket to Japan and keys to a house we bought for you. So that you can stay there. But on one condition." the man didn't get to finish.

"You have to find Mai and apologize." his mother said and Naru smiled as he finger the keys causing his mother and father to blink in surprise. They hadn't seen that smile since Gene had been killed.

"I think I can manage that." he told them, he already had a plan. The only thing left was to hope Mai didn't kill him when she saw him.

* * *

In the next chapter you'll find out what happened to everyone including Kim's family and wonder how the man that never apologizes does so to Mai? You'll have to wait I'm afraid! Oh...and as always...REVIEW! 


	12. For All It's Worth

Read AN at the end

* * *

Chapter 11- For All It's Worth

Mai sighed as she stared out the window of her classroom. It was August and school had started again. Mai was thankful because ever since she had returned from England she had felt empty. She couldn't explain why she left without saying good-bye to Naru. It just seemed to be easier for her heart to not have to face him. She looked up at the clock as it ticked and the teacher handed them back the quizzes that they had taken that morning over, believe it or not, English. Mai couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face when she saw that she had gotten an A.

Kim had called shortly after Mai had gotten back. The girl told her that they had found Rena and the woman was fine if not a little shaken up. Since the curse had been broken they didn't tell her the truth about why she was in the garden. Jonathon had apparently told her she had the flu. Kim said she thought Rena didn't believe him and Mai had detected a hint of excitement in the older girl's voice and asked what was wrong.

'_I'm going to be a sister!_' Mai chuckled as she remembered the excitement that Kim had said the sentence with. The English girl had kept Mai up half the night talking about baby names. Mai had given her congratulations and hung up. She hadn't asked about Naru or anyone else.

Ayako and Takigawa had come back shortly after her and visited her. They didn't talk about England. They had insisted on taking her out for her birthday and when Ayako had threatened to hog tie and drag her out anyway Mai had agreed. The rest of her summer had been calm with no contact from her former boss. At first her heart had been ripping itself to shreds until she just grew numb and stopped expecting the phone call she yearned for.

"Hey, Mai? You want to tell ghost stories after school?" one of her friends asked. Mai turned to look at her as her heart gave a small twinge. That was how she had first met him. Telling ghost stories and he had caught her. She could still remember that fake smile that he had been giving them. She wished briefly that she could have taught him how to truly smile but she quickly shook it off. That part of her life was over.

"No, I need to go job hunting! My boss moved so I need to find something else to do. Maybe later, okay?" Mai assured her friend and the girl nodded with a smile.

"Taniyama-san?" a girl poked her head inside their classroom at lunch and Mai looked up before the girl dropped a white rose on her desk. Mai looked up at the girl and she shrugged.

"A guy gave it to me and told me to give it to you." she explained before running out before Mai could question her. By the time lunch ended Mai had eleven roses, different colors and none red, and everyone was asking her if it was her birthday. Mai was as confused as the rest of her classmates as she had no idea who the 'mysterious man' was that was giving her classmates roses to give to her.

Mai slipped her walking shoes on and slipped her backpack on before scooping up the roses. Even though she had no idea who was giving her the roses she loved them nonetheless. Roses were her favorite flower, they smelled so sweet! She couldn't help but walk with a little bounce in her step before she slowed down as she reached the gate of the school. She shifted the flowers in her arms slightly so that she could tighten the strap on her book bag as it began to slide down her shoulder.

She didn't notice the shadow watching her as she walked out the gate. The figure looked down as his phone began to vibrate. He sighed as he saw that it was Madoka. He really didn't want to answer but decided that if he didn't she would be calling all night and that was something he definitely did _not_ want.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Have you talked to her yet? What did she say? Did you ask her? Oh, give me details damn it!" Madoka screeched and Naru held the phone away from his ear before shaking his head and put the device back to his ear and mouth.

"No, Madoka, she just got out of school. I promise I'll call you tomorrow, now leave me alone!" he hung up and turned his phone off. If his parents had to talk to him they could wait. They had all been pushing him to this and he was going to do this the way he wanted.

'Gene, I hope you're watching.' he thought and inside his mind he heard something say 'I am'.

* * *

Mai exited the elevator on her floor of her apartment building. She searched her pocket for her key as she tried to not drop the flowers in her arms. She frowned as she realized her key was gone! She groaned before she heard a chuckle and she looked around the flowers and she felt her jaw drop open in surprise.

"Naru?!" she cried. He was leaning on her door with his arms crossed and she saw that he was holding a red rose between the fingers of his left hand. He stepped away from the door and neared her before taking the bouquet in her arms and replacing it with the single red rose with something taped on the stem and she realized that there were two keys. She looked up waiting for an explanation.

"One is the key to your apartment. You can take it and start a life that doesn't include ghosts, curses, spells, or me. One is the key to my house here in Japan. That life includes all the things you can walk away from." he told her and Mai blinked before looking back at the keys. She could feel her heart beating.

'These last two weeks have been hell on me. Take him, take the ghosts, Mai.' her heart was screaming. Mai fingered the key to her apartment as fear went up her spine. 'But I'm not brave enough to be with him.'

"I can't be with you, Naru. I'm not great or wonderful…I'm not the type of girl that you're supposed to be with." she whispered. She was about to take her key before his fingers wrapped around hers.

"You don't know my type, Mai. My type just happens to be you." he told her and Mai blinked before dropping her head.

"Say it. Say that Gene's death wasn't the only reason you protected me." she ordered him and Naru gulped.

"It wasn't and isn't the only reason I protect you. I protect you because you seem to have a sign your back that says 'Attack Me, Please'. I try to block it from the ghosts." he said and Mai giggled before she pulled her hand away from his and looked up at him and was surprised to find warmth in his eyes.

"Well, then…" she looked down at the keys again and pulled his house key off and she heard him inhale sharply. She dropped the rose and other key on the ground and took the other roses from him and also dropped those before wrapping her arms around his neck with the key trapped between her fingers.

"Why did you come after me?" she whispered softly before gasping softly as his arms wrapped around her waist and held her tightly against him. She saw his smirk and knew something was going to come out of his mouth that was going to make her want to kill him.

"Because you're the only person that makes tea the way I like it." he replied softly and Mai glared at him and he laughed before letting her go and picking up the flowers. He also used the key to unlock her door and led her into the apartment building.

"If that's the only reason that you-" she was cut off as he placed a finger on her lips and closed her door.

"Let me finish, Mai." he said quietly and Mai followed him to her couch as she waited and he took a deep breath. "My brother always thought I was an idiot. He never understood why I didn't like people. I blamed everyone around me for my real parents' death and it took me a long time to begin to care for my adopted parents. Gene…well he was completely different than me.

"He loved being around people. But then again he was always careful around them. Then he went to Japan and never came back. You told me once that I didn't understand what it felt like to die, to live through that. You were wrong. When I touched his shirt when I was in his room I lived his death through his eyes.

"I felt that car hit and I felt it when it backed up and hit him again to kill him. They dumped his body and that's the reason I came to Japan. He was my brother and he was all I had left. I had to find his body. Meeting you was never part of the equation." he said and Mai placed her hand on his arm and he looked at her.

"Humans are not something to be put in an equation. We are not predictable and you are no different than the rest of us, Naru. You have human tendencies because you are human. Gene knew that and at some point you knew that but you…tried to freeze your heart." she whispered and he listened before he reached up and stroked her cheek causing her to blush and he gave her a small smile.

"Mai, how on earth did you put up with me then?" he asked and she giggled before snuggling up under his arm causing him to blink in surprise.

"Because Gene decided to visit me in my dreams and pretend to be you. He was nice and kind and he was always smiling. You need to take some lessons from him." she said and he groaned as she socked him in the stomach. He covered her fisted hand as it rested on his stomach. He brought the hand up to his mouth and began to kiss it.

"Even in death he can't stay out of my life." he chuckled as he kept her hand pressed to his mouth. She tightened her fingers around his hand as she kept her head on his shoulder.

* * *

"Mai…" Mai's eyes fluttered open and she found herself sitting on her couch and standing in front of her was Gene. She wasn't exactly sure how she could tell the two apart but it just seemed right. She returned the soft smile that he was giving, which had tipped her off in the first place that it wasn't Naru. He seemed different to her, much more content that he had usually seemed.

"When I first met you I knew you would change him." he said and Mai looked at the floor of her apartment.

"I'm glad you had faith in me. Because I sure didn't. I thought…I thought he hated me and whenever he gave me a different type of signal he'd crush it in the next second." she whispered and Gene chuckled.

"Not a people person, he's already told you that. But I'm sure that will change." Gene predicted and Mai looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean? Naru can't change how he acts. That's impossible." she said and Gene smiled at her before he reached out and touched her cheek gently and she gulped as his fingers stroked her cheek.

"He's already changing because of you. He's needed someone like you for while now. I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to meet you when _I_ was still alive." he whispered and Mai blinked before giving him another smile before he withdrew his hand.

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked softly and he remained silent for a moment before he shrugged.

"I don't know. The periods of sleep are getting closer together and longer as well. This may be the last time we see each other, I'm just not sure." he replied and Mai could feel tears in her eyes as she tried to not cry. She nodded and the tears came anyway when he brushed his fingers against her eyes to get the tears. She gave him a small smile before she slipped away from him.

Gene stared at where she had been sitting before down at the hand that had brushed against her cheek. He closed his eyes as the sleep began to claim him and he wondered if he would ever see Mai again. He somehow doubted it but then again stranger things have happened.

'Take care of her, Noll. Please take care of her.' he thought before everything went completely black.

* * *

Mai's eyes lifted open and she found that she was using something black as a pillow. She pulled back slightly and studied Naru's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed and his hair falling into his face. She shifted slightly and reached up and brushed his bangs back and she smiled as he turned towards her touch. Her eyes dropped down to his lips and she felt her cheeks warm before she let her fingers lightly brush his lips.

'Go on! Kiss him!' her heart demanded and she took the advice and bent down and gently brushed her lips against his. She didn't expect for his arms to tighten around her or for his lips to start pressing against hers until he had stolen all her breath away and she found herself staring into heated blue eyes, a rather different look on Naru. A look that Mai decided she liked better on his face. She could feel her face flame when his fingers brushed against her neck.

"I see you finally decided to wake up." he told her and Mai sputtered angrily before she found her protest being smothered by his lips and she couldn't help but gasp at the shiver that went down her spine at the feel of his lips as they pressed against hers. She wondered where he had learned to kiss like that.

"Finally…" he whispered as he rested his forehead against hers and Mai must have made a sound that expressed her curiosity. She currently had no breath left in her lungs and couldn't speak. "Madeline kept kissing me when she was in your body and nearly drove me insane." he whispered and Mai frowned before deciding revenge was due.

"You didn't _enjoy_ it did you?!" she cried as fake tears welled in her eyes. She thanked the heavens that her friends had begged her to take drama class. It was definitely coming in handy. She saw his eyes widen and she had to hold in her laughter. She was enjoying the fact that he realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"No! I mean, well, yes. No, oh, Mai…the only reason I would enjoy that was because it was _you_ that was kissing me…even if Madeline was controlling you." he told her and Mai felt her cheeks warm. He was extremely out of character but for Naru what he said was the nicest thing she had ever heard. She touched his cheek before giving him a smile.

"If you wanted me to kiss you that badly you should've just told me." she whispered and he shook his head before reaching up and wrapping his fingers around her hand and holding it against his cheek.

"I suppose I didn't know at the time that I wanted that. I guess I just wouldn't admit it until I woke up in that hospital room and you weren't there like you always were and then they told me that you had left for Japan." he told her and Mai dropped his hand. "Why did you leave?"

"Because…I didn't know. I had to know if you were going to chase after someone that you had loved and lost…or if you were going to chase after _me_." she whispered softly and she gasped as he turned her head back towards him and she felt him wipe her tears away.

"I chased after someone that I'm falling in love with and almost lost them to my stupidity. I refuse to lose you, Mai." he answered and Mai blinked before a smile began to spread across her face.

"Naru…I love you! I love you!" she threw her arms around his chest and somehow ended up with her sitting in his lap as her head rested on his shoulder with her arms wrapped around his neck. His arms were firmly around her waist as he leaned back and he heard her breathing slow down into a steady rhythm and he knew that she had fallen back asleep.

"I love you, too." he whispered into her ear and she snuggled up against him as her arms fell away and he wrapped his arms around her tighter so that he wouldn't have to let her go. He watched her as she slept glad that he no longer had to worry about her being possessed and never waking up again. He kissed her temple as he weaved one hand through her brown hair.

'_Take care of her, Noll. Please take care of her._' Gene's voice whispered inside Naru's head and the younger of the two brothers closed his eyes and a smile played on his lips as he sat there on Mai's couch in her living room.

"I will, Gene. I promise…I'll take care of her." he whispered before he also slipped into a sleep. Neither of the teenagers realizing that the next day they'd be awoken by a very angry Madoka barging in and screaming Naru for hanging up on her and Lin standing in the doorway trying to not roll his eyes. But at the current moment as they were asleep they really didn't care.

* * *

I don't want it to end!!!!!!! WAH!!! Alright, I'm done. I'm seriously thinking about doing an epilogue. I don't know...but anyway! Tell me what you think and thanks to all my loyal reviewers!!!


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